Social Stratification in American Society
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In American society, there is a belief that class differences do not matter and that social mobility is such that the sort of social stratification that was and is prevalent in Europe has been eliminated in the egalitarian United States. However, it is clear that class differences do exist at some level, with power unevenly distributed through the levels of society and with the institutions of government and society structured so as to respond differently to different segments of society. In America today, the distance between the very rich and the very poor is greater than ever. One issue, though, is whether class differences in American society are stronger than the racial and ethnic differences which seem to have an even more profound effect on social stratification and on a continuation of the poverty and social redlining that keeps entire groups out of the mainstream to this day. Is racism the primary component of class differences today, or is it strictly economic? The two are not really separable, since the primary effect of racism seems to be a form of economic discrimination perpetuating poverty for a racial or ethnic group, but there is a clear difference between economic discrimination as such and racial discrimination that produces an economic difference which then becomes an occasion for further discrimination. Social stratification is usually considered in terms of economic position in American society, though there are other determinants of social class.
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oorer classes in the ghettoes of the city and in rural regions on the other. The latter group consisted of people who did not benefit directly from the changes taking place and who were 2frustrated that the benefits enjoyed by some were not making any changes in their lives. There were social divisions in the white community as well, with white society showing different responses to the racial dissension and agitation in the black community. Some banking interests took an active part in trying to develop "black capitalism." The system as a whole tried to contain the explosiveness of the situation. Racism was never only a Southern problem, though there was an attitude prevalent that it had been, but it was now emerging more and more clearly in the North as blacks made advances and some whites became alarmed at the changes taking place. The busing of children to redress racial imbalance in the schools caused a great deal of dissension, especially in urban working-class neighborhoods, as poor whites and poor blacks were pushed into competition with one another for scarce educational resources. The movement of the black population into traditionally white neighborhoods came as employment situations improved, but this also cause
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2002
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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