Equality and Socioeconomic Status: An Analysis

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Harboring Humanity As time moves on the world has plenty of opportunities to improve and make changes. The world has an abundance of dilemmas, but equality should no longer be one of those dilemmas. Equality is seen as a part of humanity and if there are limits to equality, then there are limits on humanity. In the story, The Lesson by Toni Cade Bambara, the topic of equality and socioeconomic status are often discussed. According to the American Psychological Association the definition of socioeconomic status is, “the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation” (socioeconomic status). The story is about an educated African American teacher who takes her barely …show more content…

This should have been held true for all men and women no matter the color, the class, and the education. All humans have to right to pursue happiness and as the author Bambara stated, that means have the equal opportunity to earn as much money as those in the upper socioeconomic class (696). In fact, in the story Bambara makes it apparent the ridiculous amount of money the toys were worth. Bambara said, “Imagine for a minute, what kind of society it is in which some people can spend on a toy what it would cost to feed a family of six or seven’” (696). One might question if it is humane that a toy costs as much as a family’s food. Is it humane? Should something so frivolous be the same amount as something so vital? Lastly, is this factor of inequality limiting or encouraging humanity? The answer to these questions are no this is not humane and no a toy should not cost more than the food for a family of six or seven, and inequality is harboring humanity. It does not make any sense to separate the different socioeconomic classes because when everyone has a steady cash flow and a glowing opportunity at an education the economy hits a golden streak for everyone, and …show more content…

When Native Americans are being made fun of and constantly reminded that their ancestors were torn apart and made out to be savages by the White men, it is hard to pick up the pieces and move on. Native Americans shouldn’t even be associated with savages or racial slurs, but that is what is happening when Natives are being seen as Mascots. For example, at one point OSU was playing against a team with a Native American mascot and they had on a banner, “Send them home on a trail of tears” (Charles). The Trail of Tears is not an event to be made a mockery of, because it moved the Cherokee tribe from their homeland state of Georgia to the state of Oklahoma, and over 4,000 Cherokee people died during the removal (Trail of Tears, PBS). This shows that even though a minority socioeconomic group is working towards advancement in the world of the majority socioeconomic group, but some people in the majority socioeconomic group will find anything and do everything to keep the barriers between the two

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