Race Matters

The heading of this essay talks for itself. This essay talks about how the conservatives blame the problems in America on black people instead of blaming the nation as a whole. It shows how racism still exist in the American society and it uses the upheaval that happened in Los Angeles as an example. I like how it said that only certain people can define what it is to be an American and the rest have to fit in. This is true because I feel like the way society has it is that if you are not white you're not a true American. It's like if you are black or another race they sometimes consider you outsiders When it should be if you are born in America, your'e an American and you can say what it is to be an American wheather you're black or white. In a country where it suppose to be equal and where race shouldn't matter but it matters. It just shows how the racism exist in society and race matters big time.

People Like Us

This was interesting video because it talks about how different people view class in America. It also  talks about how people are classed by different ways. For example, where they live, what clothes they wear, the type of food they eat, where they shop etc. It shows that some people are born into a class from birth. They are taught to act and live a certain way of life. An example of this is when the guy in the video talks about the WASPS. He said to join this group or class, you have to be born into it. You can't buy your way into it. He also said that they were taught that they are more attractive than other people, they look better and stand better. This video also show how social stratification exists. It was shown with the lady at the end who works at Burger King. She is a hard working lady making an honest living but is getting nowhere in life. She was born into this class and hasn't moved up the ladder. For me this was the saddest part of the video and it shows what the government is doing for the people of this class.

This video also shows how people can be classed by their social status and race. You may be black or hispanic and be wealthy, but because of your race you wouldn't be classed with the whites. This shows how inequality still exist in the American society. A society where everyone should be treated equally. Also whether you want to face it or talk about it, social class do exist in America. It may be unspoken but it is seen.

Positive Functions of the Underserving Poor

This was a very interesting reading. I like how the author breaks it down into several parts of how the underclass people are treated in society. It's interesting to know these things because some people never saw it this way or looked at it like this. I for one thought of it, but never looked at it like this. But when you really think of it what the author is saying is basically true. The more wealthier or better off people are usually the ones who stigmatize the poor people. They use them to do things that they wouldn't do. To me they are playing a major role in society. The author talks about how society itself isn't doing anything to solve this problem. For example they said if someone has a criminal offense most jobs wouldn't accept them so there for the person turns back to the criminal life. Another example is the author said some of the poor can't even vote an even if they did, the elecetd official might ignore them because these officials cannot easily satisfy their demands for economic and other kinds of justice. This just goes to show that its hard for the poor to reach anywhere because of the stigmatizing and how society has already labelled them as the underserving poor.

Deviance

Deviance is breaking a social rule. We all can be deviant in some way by doing something that society sees wrong. This can be anything for example in some societies having tattoos would be morally wrong. We are not perfect so therefore during sometime in our lives we eventually break some sort of social rule. It happens on daily basis with some people and for some it happens not as often. For myself, I know I've broken some social rule even though I may not be able to point it out all the rules that I've broken. One of them I'm sure of is drinking alcohol before the legal age. I knew it was wrong but I did it still for my own personal reasons. Society may find because I started drinking from an earlier than others they may want to stigmatize me as an alcohloic. But that doesn't mean its true, its just the society we live in. Also if this is so, then in some way we are all law breakers because everyone is not perfect.