Where We Stand Class Matters Essay

We live in a world today where everything is defined not by who you are, but rather by the money you make, the car you drive and the clothes you wear. It is a society where if you make a lot of money, drive that nice car, and wear the nice clothes you are considered at the top of society and one author thinks that this is what is causing the great amount of violence that we see in our world today. The author, Bell Hooks says in her book Where We Stand: Class Matters, “When the deluded young are forced to face the reality that we are bound by class, by limited resources, by the exhaustion of gloires, by endless exploitation, they become rage filled and rage addicted” (Hooks 87). This is then where the divide between those who are fulfilled with
Hooks talks about this divide being the root of the spike in violence we have seen, sense it is comparable to a sports team, not necessarily by physical violence, but verbal violence and vocal displeasures that only makes this divide worse. The other reason I think this idea make sense is because of how relatable it is to our public school system here in America. The schools that are on top, are the schools that continually strive academically because they have the most resources or materialistic items to help them stay on top. The reason they stay there is because they receive the most funding and support from local government because they are the best in the area, which is the same idea as Hooks example in her book where she states that those who are on top get there because of their surrounding financial support. Now, as these schools are on top everyone strives to be like them because they want the best for their students, however, they don’t have the resources these other schools have to make it to the top. This then evokes a divide between the different types of schools because of their financial situation and lack of resources to serve their students and push these schools to envy those who are on