How does disparity in public schools contribute to the culture of poverty in the United States? Please watch the video from Week 3 “A Tale of Two Schools: Race and Education on Long Island.” What are the reasons and consequences for the disparity represented there on individual, social, and institutional levels? How does this dynamic play out in your experience with public schools? What was the impact of your public schooling on your life and your socioeconomic status?
To what extent is the American Dream available to all people? Why? Please begin with explaining the concept of the American Dream, its origins and how it evolved over time to today. What does that mean today? Why? What does that mean to the people in your community? What does that mean to you personally?
Consider your own experiences in higher education, in workplace settings, and/or in other parts of your life. What classist microaggressions have you witnessed, whether directed at you or at another person? How did you understand them at the time? How did you feel at the time? How did you react? How do the ideas from this reading change that understanding? Can you think of any examples when you might have participated in a classist microaggression against another person, even unintentionally?
