Joan C. Williams describes the White American working class
as shifting from being honored (like the famous WPA murals) to being ignored by
the elites. The author cites the old stereotype of Terry Molloy (from Kazan’s On the Waterfront) as the sort of thing
that liberal Americans were trying to understand. Then came Archie Bunker, then
Al Bundy, then Homer Simpson – all of them crude, silly, or both – as the new
stereotype working man. This book explores two things; the reason the elites
look down on the blue collar (or study it like a specimen) and the reason the blue-collar
sneer at (what they consider the phony) accomplishments of the elites.
Williams begins by
showing how the poor-middle-rich divide isn’t that clear anymore, especially
since a 45k-earning mechanic and a 100k-earning lawyer both think they’re
middle class. She also refers to the recent J.D. Vance memoir Hillbilly Elegy (okay, who wouldn’t
refer to it?) where the hardworking poor (full time work, low pay) feel as
though they’re “paying for the party” of the non-working poor (no job, no
discipline, lots of drug use) and become resentful. There’s also the problem of
how the better jobs (like construction) go to men while there are few good jobs
for an uneducated woman.
I disagree with
the author on a few things. For one, I see many women from low-income families
who go to junior college, get a two-year degree in health or paralegal studies,
and start earning 45k per year right away. Then again, 45k per year is great
when you’re single, but gets stretched thin when you have children. Some
nursing jobs pay high five-figure salaries, but even that can wear thin. High
salaries are taxed higher, and make your kids ineligible for public-funded
daycare (or kindergarten in some states.) This was one of the things discussed
in the New York Times article Angela
Whittaker’s Climb (way back in 2005, featured in the collection Class Matters.) Even at a salary of 85k,
you end up spending most of your salary on taxes, healthcare, and a home in a
low-crime neighborhood.
The author also
discusses a question rolling off the tongues of Americans; why don’t the working
classes of the Rust Belt just abandon ship and move away? The answer is twofold
– there’s safety and familiarity. First off, moving away from everything you
know is hard, no matter what your social class. I recently met an army veteran
in Delaware who works in construction in his hometown – not always steady – but
it’s easier to live in Delaware than New York. If he took a job in NYC at the
same salary, he could afford to live in the South Bronx (not good) or somewhere
an hour and a half away by train. Let me add something else here, the transit
in NYC is no longer reliable. If you’ve ever been to Delaware, you’ll see it’s
easier to get around by car. That might be why in a lot of these states, law
enforcement jobs are very popular. You get good pay, benefits, and the training
can get you a higher-paid job in a suburban police department, so you could end
up with good pay AND live in a good neighborhood, not far from your job.
Another topic
discussed here is college. The private versus state college choice has a lot to
do with social life and networking versus practicality. Are you looking to get
the education and graduate as soon as you can, or do you want to have the
luxury of partying and playing sports for the next four years? This was another
thing that I noticed in Delaware; the college grads all majored in lucrative
skills, like business and science, while students at NYU and Columbia often
pick arts majors that get them nowhere.
I disagree with the chapter on pushing (or
not pushing) their kids to succeed. A lot of them do, but their priorities are
different. They just want their kids to grow up to be self-supporting,
everything else is unnecessary. Take for instance the book Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago; her mother tells her “none of
this starving actor business for you, when you graduate you’re getting a job.”
Williams finds, correctly, that elite kids being overscheduled with too many
activities, and pressured to read at the age of five. I agree that a lot of it
is unnecessary; I was a lousy reader even at age eight, but I could make my own
breakfast, tie my own shoes, and do a lot of things for myself. She’s right in
that the working class don’t need for their children to read at age six, they
just need their children to pull their own weight. But I disagree with the way
she makes it look like it’s wrong. Both classes have priorities, and for the
elite the priority is to get their children into the best schools.
Another thing I
disagree with is her take on the issue of racism among the White working
classes. The real problem is that priorities are different in Black and White
families. Here in New York City (and I bet in others too) there’s a huge amount
of nepotism in the construction business, and the Italian-Americans hire their
own. Same thing with Albanian-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Indian-Americans,
and just about every other ethnic group. If you’re Italian-American from Staten
Island, and you hate school no problem – someone in your family, or a friend of
you parents, can give you a job. It’ll be in their roofing business, garage,
restaurant, take your pick. If you’re a Hasidic Jew and you get kicked out of
Yeshiva for punching out the Rabbi – no problem, you’ll have a job at BH photo
the next day!
I agree with her
take on how the elites fail to connect with the blue-collar classes. The
Republicans do a better job at winning over the factory workers, builders, and
farmers, but the Democrats don’t seem interested. Obama and Clinton only seemed
interested in college professors and Wall Street, while failing to get the
support of police unions and army veterans. I would welcome a second
installment to this book, particularly one about the successes of the White working
class. If their ways work for them, there’s got to be a reason.
I’m going to sign
off with a personal experience with this topic. Years ago, in the summer of
1998, I worked in a county printing shop, where all the county’s parking
tickets and public service flyers were printed. The men in the shop, all White,
and all unionized, were guaranteed Republican voters. When election time came
around, you could guarantee they’d vote for Bush, McCain, Romney, and Trump.
Same thing with state & local. But when the Republicans took office, what
was the first thing they always did? Bust their union!
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