The novel, which was later created into a movie, The Help by Kathryn Stockett focuses on the role of the black maids in the town of Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. Stockett illustrates the relationships and interactions between the white men and women of Jackson and their black employees. These contrasting lives come together when a single graduate from Ole Miss, Skeeter, returns home after college and attempts to fit in with the other women her age who play bridge and gossip about their husbands. After finding little enjoyment in this lifestyle, Skeeter pursues her dream to be a writer and confides in Aibileen and Minny, two of the maids, to create a narrative where the maids tell their stories of working in white households. Of course, due to the fact that there would be major consequences for both the maids and Skeeter if anyone found out they were working together, the narrative is anonymous, and many other maids join in to tell their stories. The large success of this book leaves the town of Jackson in shock and finally exposes the injustice and prejudice present around them.
This novel and movie exemplify the discrimination in the United States that was not portrayed on the news but was still just as relevant as the injustices that were. The extreme contrast in the lifestyles of these characters brings in the idea of One and the Other. While the white women sat around sipping tea, the black housemaids were taking care of the women’s children and raising them almost singlehandedly. Then, they would return home at night and have to take care of their own children and find time for themselves. The white women completely separated themselves from their black maids and dehumanized them. Through the eyes of the children, skin color does not matter. However, through the eyes of the women who all once idolized their maids, skin color is all that matters. Therefore, in this novel it is evident that racism is taught.
Stockett allows the reader to take this idea away as well as many others. While the novel is fictional, it exemplifies the everyday lives of black maids fairly accurately by proving the discrimination they received. This indicates the continuation of slave-like treatment even 100 years after it was abolished. Stockett exemplifies the changes that have been made but also highly emphasizes the many changes that still need to occur. It is important to ask yourself while reading the novel or watching the movie, how has the United States evolved since then and what type of discrimination that is present in the novel and movie still present today?
Michaela: What’s up everybody, welcome back to this week’s podcast of “Yo is this Classism?” This is one of your hosts, Michaela Ambos a first year exercise science major from Anna, Ohio.
Molly: Another day, another podcast episode! My name is Molly Barr I’m majoring in marketing and am from the suburbs of Cleveland.
Claire: Hi guys my name is Claire D’Elia! My major is biological engineering and I am from Ramsey, New Jersey.
Claire: Today we are going to discuss the documentary Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal and ponder over the question “Yo is this classism?” We will dive into the different situations in which classism is present throughout the documentary. In order to thoroughly analyze each example, we will compare them to trends in the real world and ask if class plays a role in things like access to college preparation, the prestige of colleges, graduation rates, and court sentencing.
Molly: The documentary explains the most extreme college admissions scandal that was released publicly when investigations started in March of 2019. The scandal occurred because over 50 wealthy Americans, including celebrities Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, paid a man named Rick Singer in order to take the “side door” for their children to get into prestigious universities. While each accused person’s story varies based on differing universities, sports, and the amounts of money paid they were all publicly exposed after the FBI received a tip about a large amount of money paid to the head coach of Yale’s women’s soccer team, Rudy Meredith. After being questioned by the FBI, Meredith ended up exposing Singer’s name which ultimately led to Singer working with the FBI to expose everyone else involved. All of these events occurred because of extreme cheating on the college admissions system. These families were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their children into colleges like University of Southern California, Georgetown, Yale, Stanford and other so called “prestigious” universities. By posing the students as athletes or having someone else take their standardized tests, Singer was able to make connections and create what he called a “side door” of getting into college.
Michaela: The term “side door” was Singer’s method, in which parents paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars to create fake athletic scholarships for possible students through his connections with university coaches and staff. The “side door” was a way to “guarantee” admission for possible students rather than the “back door”, which would cost parents millions of dollars in donations to universities without the guarantee of their children getting in. The possible students would be listed as walk ons for teams like rowing, water polo, soccer, and many others. They would receive a scholarship for their alleged athletic talents guaranteeing admission to their college. As a walk on to a team, the student would never have to show up to a practice or game meaning they received a scholarship and admission to any college the parent or student wanted to attend. Now that we have given some background information about the Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal, what are your guys thoughts and opinions on how classism is prevalent throughout the documentary?
Claire: First of all, after watching this documentary my heart goes out to the hardworking kids who were denied a spot at their dream university. Privileged children of wealthy Americans were undeservingly given the spot over them. These kids played by all the rules and were refused an opportunity only because of their financial situation, which is wrong.
Molly: I completely agree. I think that this is where class comes into it. It is obvious that every single person involved in this scandal was wealthy. They could easily pay for SAT or ACT prep, private high school education, and even donate to the universities they wanted their children to attend. However, not everyone can do that. People who live and go to school in impoverished areas have a significant disadvantage when it comes to taking the standardized tests, applying to colleges and the =n getting into these colleges as well. This is because they don’t have access to what more affluent families do. This also is in direct correlation with graduation rates. In an analysis conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics College Navigator, a very strong correlation between graduation rates and SAT scores for the state flagship universities was found. It was clear that those who possess lower test scores, have a lower graduation rate and vice versa. This connects to class through the differing graduation rates between affluent and impoverished children. Do you have any more information on this, Michaela?
Michaela: In addition to what Molly was saying, within the United States Sarah Butrymowicz, a data analyst, found that graduation rates are “ 60.9 percent of high schoolers in cities graduated, compared to 75.3 percent of suburbs. In towns and rural districts in the middle, graduating 71.7 percent and 75 percent of students.” By having lower graduation rates in cities, this creates inequality and classism for those students.
Claire: I can relate this topic to my personal experience. I grew up in a middle class, suburban area in Northern New Jersey where all the graduation rates at each high school are above 90% and usually close to 100%. If you drive 30 minutes south, you will reach a less affluent area of New Jersey where the graduation rates are much lower. The government favors the higher class by providing better schooling districts with better teachers and more resources to allow their students to succeed. This has devastating effects as the children in the lower class areas have a smaller chance of graduating and moving on to a higher education like college. As a result, they cannot move up and stay in their lower class neighborhood where their future children will have the same fate. It is an endless cycle thus resources and different education styles provided to students attending inner-city school must decrease or eliminate the education classism throughout the country.
Molly: Another prominent pattern in the documentary is the idea of prestige in colleges. The documentary indicates that prestige in a college is an allusion. Colleges make people believe in it, and it gets ranked as one of the best colleges in the nation. How they get people to believe in it, that their college is prestigious is to bring in people of high class who will bring in donations and wealth. Daniel Golden, who is the author of The Price of Admission which is about how high class families navigate the college process to get their students in to higher education, states “My view on the admissions process is all sorts of different preferences with some students getting in on pure merit but many other getting in through the preferences that skew rich and white” (14 min 25 seconds).
Michaela: As just stated, part of the admissions process has to do with being wealthy and of higher class, but this idea was mainly created by colleges and universities. More people think that a college or university is prestigious, the more likely that students are going to want to apply there. The higher number of applications sent to a university means that more students will be declined, lowering the acceptance rate making them more prestigious. The allusion of prestige targets the higher class making the general population believe that to get into a prestigious college you will need to have access to wealth. This contributes to the “othering” currently affecting those students in lower social classes. It is implying that an individual could not possibly get into a prestigious college without identifying that social class differentiates them from the higher class. My intention of the previous sentence is to not take away from the intelligence of those in the lower class or say that social class is the only way a student is able to attend a prestigious college, but bring light to the fact that social class plays a big role is college admissions. The admission of a student should only depend on them, which could be their academics, extracurriculars, passion, or personal statement. The student must be able to identify themselves based on their identity rather than a social class.
Molly: Now, a word from our sponsor!
Michaela: This podcast episode is sponsored by EdTrust. EdTrust is a nonprofit organization that works to close opportunity gaps that affect students of color and students from low-income families. Edtrust works with students, educators, and policymakers to change and better the education system. They analyze data from the local level to the national level to evaluate opportunity gaps and the actions that need to be taken to close them. EdTrust supports efforts to expand excellence and equality in education from preschool through high school and college, increasing the college access and completion for historically underserved students in the lower class. If you would like to learn more about EdTrust, donate to their cause, or receive help from them go to edtrust.org. Thank you Edtrust for sponsoring this episode of “Yo is this classism” and your continuous efforts to close the opportunity gaps created by social class.
Molly: The final portion of the documentary focuses on the sentences that those who were accused received. It is a given that everyone involved could afford high, well-respected lawyers and therefore already had a head start when going into court. The most time in prison that one of them received was 7 months, the rest receiving just 3 weeks, 2 months or anything in between. Some even pleaded not guilty and received no time. Clearly, wealth was a huge factor in this case and continues to be a factor in many other cases. For example, the OJ Simpson case in which OJ, a wealthy celebrity and retired football player, was found not guilty of killing his wife, Nicole Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, after a long and highly publicized case. People speculated the impact of his fame on the case and how it benefited OJ and the end result. Many believed, had it been someone not in the spotlight, the ultimate verdict would have varied.
Claire: This is a great point Molly. It does seem plausible that OJ’s fame had a hand in the final verdict of his case. This leads to the question, is the criminal justice system within the United States treating everyone equally, regardless of his or her race or class? The United States government preaches that no one is above the law, but is this true for people of higher social class? Clearly classism is present in the criminal justice system as those with wealth are more likely to be ruled innocent or receive lesser sentences than less affluent people who have committed the same felonies. This idea relates to a concept we learned this semester, the Master Slave Dialect. The Master has a power over the slaves that they cannot escape. In this specific situation, the slaves are the lower class and the Master is the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system uses its power to give more lenient punishments to the wealthy when breaking the law than others, such as in the OJ Simpson case.
Molly: Thank you Claire! Well, that is it for today guys. Thank you so much for joining us on “Yo is this classism?” Please rate our podcast below and share it with all your friends! See you next week.
Michaela: Bye guys thanks for listening!
Claire: Thank you and goodbye!
Works Cited:
Butrymowicz, Sarah. Struggling Cities and Excelling Suburbs: A Repeated Pattern around the Country.
When thinking about systemic injustices local to my hometown I immediately think of the Chagrin Falls Park. I grew up in Chagrin Falls, a small town that is not more than five miles from the Chagrin Falls Park. Chagrin Falls is 97% white, and the majority of Chagrin Falls Park residents are black. The Chagrin Falls Park is completely dissociated to Chagrin Falls despite their close proximity. This is because of systemic injustices placed upon them. Hundreds of years ago the border of Chagrin Falls and Cuyahoga County cut off right outside of the Chagrin Falls Park. Therefore, the children that grow up in the Park cannot attend Chagrin Falls Schools, the closest schools they live to. Instead, they have to attend a school 20 minutes from them. This is because those that established the border, white men, did so with the intent to segregate their black neighbors. While this is an example of systemic racism a while ago, it is still really relevant today.
Recently, when a rally was scheduled to take place in Chagrin Falls to support the Black Lives Matter Movement, every store in the town boarded up their windows (Black 1). They treated the rally with fear. A fear of a violent rally with no trust in those partaking in it. This proved the racism present in Chagrin. The residents and store owners showed their true colors when they assumed a rally held by their black neighbors would turn violent. I, as well as many of my classmates, were distraught. How could people be so scared of those who live five minutes down the road from us? It made little sense but indicated the cowardliness of the people in my hometown. The entire town agreed that if there was a rally, the stores would board up without even hearing out the details of the rally, that is systemic injustice.
This is extremely relevant in today’s world and the Black Lives Matter movement. It is also relevant in the One and the Other theory as well as Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. My town, as well as many other cities and people around the country, treated the protestors as foreigners even though they are their neighbors. They acted as if they feared for their lives when our houses are just five miles apart. I think this indicates how the people of Chagrin Falls felt as if they are the One and the protestors are the Other. They felt as if they were being invaded by their own neighbors. This indicates a switch in power. Also, in Martin Luther King’s letter he emphasized how the white men were cowardly even though they referred to him as a coward. He also fought back on the idea that their protests were ‘“unwise and untimely’” by indicating that there is no “right time” according to the white man (King 1). This is very much related to the response of the Chagrin Falls citizens reacting so poorly to Black Lives Matter protests. They believed it was unnecessary despite the years and years of racism that occurred in the town. From intentional excluded a black community when creating border lines to boarding up stores for a nonviolent protest, systemic racism is present in my hometown.
Black, Shana. “Chagrin Falls Park, Black Neighborhood Next to Chagrin Falls, at Heart of Last Week’s Protest Controversy.” Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Scene, 19 Jan. 2021, www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2020/06/09/chagrin-falls-park-black-neighborhood-next-to-chagrin-falls-at-heart-of-last-weeks-protest-controversy.
Ortlip, Henry, director. “The Park” – A Film about the Chagrin Falls Park Community Center. YouTube, YouTube, 23 Oct. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q_4VhGDBIw
Some of the second half of Lisa Ko’s novel The Leavers, is written from the first-person point of view of Peilan or Polly Guo. Peilan states the reason why she left her son. She proves that it was out of force and indicates that she spent time in a detention facility. The name of the facility that she was placed in by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE, was the Ardsleyville immigration detention center. While this name fictional, the way that she describes her life in it is not. While Polly tends to speak vaguely about her experience in the facility due to trauma, there are many sources out there that prove the horror these immigrants are forced to live through.
In an article written by Breanna Cary, she illustrates the living conditions of these facilities. Immigrants that live in these facilities are both criminals and not. Therefore, innocent people are being ripped of their lives and from their families for simply wanting a better life. Cary states that of the over 100 immigration detention centers in the U.S., most are distant from any major cities causing them to be far from any immigration courts. Some of these detention centers are a portion of a federal or state jail where people who are actually convicted of crimes are housed. This, without any more information, is a clear indication that these immigrants are treated on the same playing field as actual criminals.
Furthermore, Cary suggests that most of the immigrant personal belongings are taken and they are referred to by their alien registration number, not their names. It is not common that they can speak to any outside relatives or friends without seeking approval and for a short amount of time. This disconnection from the outside world and complete dehumanization is clear indication of why Peilan is so resistant towards talking about it. Similar to when prisoners are released from jail, when the immigrants are released from the detention facilities it can be very difficult to adjust to the new life, they are forced to live whether it is back in their country of origin or the United States.
Ko, Lisa. The Leavers. Little, Brown, 2018
Breanna Cary, J.D. “Living Conditions in U.S. Immigration Detention Centers.” Www.nolo.com, Nolo, 3 June 2020, www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/living-conditions-immigration-detention-centers.html.
