At one time, manual laborers were usually Democratic while affluent people were typically Republican, but eventually, working class people who were conservative–with regard to social and religious issues–started supporting Republican candidates; people with more education started supporting Democrats in greater numbers (122).
Social Class and Voting – Roskin
Social Class and Voting – Roskin
White working and middle-class voters accept conservative arguments that big government has contributed to declining social mobility; many upper-middle-class voters support Democrats because they think more government intervention will counter the trend of decreasing social mobility (123).
Social Class and Voting – Roskin
In the 1970’s, differences in levels of education began to correspond with greater income inequality; as jobs for people with low levels of education became less prevalent, social mobility for Americans decreased, in comparison to that same measure–the ability of a citizen to move to another social class–in other Western countries.
In the play A Raisin in the Sun, a character named Beneatha is nicknamed “Alaiyo,” which means “One For Whom Bread—Food—Is Not Enough.” This is consistent with the idea that Douglass is willing to relinquish food for learning, when he interacts with the young white boys who inadvertently teach him how to read. Also, in African American literature, it is a recurring theme for people to be depicted as having a choice between food and figurative things that give life more meaning. For example, in this passage, even though he’s hungry and exhausted when he’s being pursued by Covey, young Frederick decides to endure his hunger instead of submitting to the degradation of a beating.