SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE MEDIA
By now, you should have a firm understanding of the material presented in the textbook. Write a 3 pageanalysis on the topic of social stratification that is found in a newspaper or magazine, and make sure the paper meets all of the criteria stated on this document. This paper must be typed and submitted on Blackboard.
Find a recent newspaper or magazine article that illustrates an event or situation relating tosocial stratificationthat has occurred in the U.S. within the last couple of years (2016-2020). The article must be from a major source, such as The WashingtonPost, The New York Times, Time Magazine,U.S. News & World Report, among others. The article can be found online or in print. Choose an article that focuses on groups of people in conflict with one another as a result of the inequality in the U.S. class system. You may want to run the article by me first before proceeding with this assignment. The objective of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to apply sociological perspectives of social stratification to real-world situations.
I. Background (1page):
a. Briefly describe the social stratification or situation presented in the article.
b. When you describe the situation, do not plagiarize – describein your own words!
c. Make sure you include a well-developed thesis statement which informs the reader in one sentence what your paper is about. The thesis should be placed at the end of the Background section. Go to this link for assistance:
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/writing-the-paper/thesis-statements.
II. Assessment (2 pages): This is the core of your paper. Make sure this section is very well-developed, well-organized, and well-written since your grade depends mainly on your sociological analysis of the article.
a. Discuss why the social stratificationor situation occurred by relating it to foursociological concepts/theories learned from any of the chapters in the textbook. Remember that you do not need to explain the theories/concepts. You will be graded by how you apply the theories/concepts to the article you have selected.
Concepts/theories must be bolded or underlined in your paper, or they will not be counted in the quota.
b. Discuss how the reality is presented by the author/reporter/media. Are there any unwritten cultural assumptions? Do those assumptions reflect ideologies? Do the ideologies support the status quo? What kind of status quo? Are there any biases in the media presentation? If so, what kind of biases? Try to read between the lines.Cultural assumptions are not written.
Important: you are asked to analyze both the content of the article of your selection as well as how it is presented. Presentation usually reflects ideology and subtly power relations.
c. Include an engaging and stimulating conclusion paragraph that summarizes your paper. Demonstrate evidence that you can make connections between all of the main ideas.
Make sure to include the URL of the article in your list of “Works Cited.”
The paper should be logically organized in well-constructed paragraphs/sentences, have relevant content, and be easily understood. There should be few or no errors in format, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. These errors should not hinder comprehension of your writing.
In accordance with the Montgomery College Code of Conduct, there is ZERO tolerance for plagiarism, so always cite the original source if you are “borrowing” information. If you are citing sources, there must always be in-text citations and a list of “References” in APA style. Sources must be in alphabetical order in the list of “References.” For assistance on APA style, refer to these websites:
http://libguides.montgomerycollege.edu/apa
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.
If you are unsure of when to cite sources, refer to this website:
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/integrity/pages/cite/.
ANSWER
- Background
Social stratification refers to a mode of organisation in a society where people are categorised into groups that vary on socioeconomic factors such as race, education, wealth, income, social status, gender or occupation. The topic has historically appeared on the media for a long time and in social theorist research such as Karl Marx and Max Weber. This analysis focuses on social stratification with regards to gender from a New York Times article that was published on June 29th 2020. The article presents two groups of people in conflict with one another as a result of the inequality in the U.S. class system, one being the United States police department and the other being African Americans. For a long time, statistics have indicated that African Americans, particularly, black men are more prone to crime-related activities in America comprising drug-related felonies and theft and burglaries among others. The situation prompts many in the police department to perceive a threat and consequently respond in hostility towards the race and gender in a manner that does not match their crime which has often lead to death or serious injury.
The article features Byron Williams, fifty years, black and in the year 2019, cycling without a safety light in Las Vegas. After a confrontation with the police, Mr William is documented to have died in police custody saying that he could not breathe and repeating it 17 times. The article also features Eric Garner, another black man in New York City in 2014, who was caught selling untaxed cigarettes by the sidewalk. Again Mr Garner died after being put on chokehold crying that he could not breathe. And in another most recent case that caused a total public outcry George Floyd was caught using a fake $20 bill and after a confrontation with the Minneapolis police force, died in chokehold pleading that he could not breathe. The three are just examples of what happens in confrontations between the police and the black community in the unaccounted being wrongful arrests and prosecutions, mistaken shooting by the police and mistreatment including deprivation of sleep, food and water while in police custody among many others. The article observes that the cases, “show a pattern of aggressive tactics that ignored prevailing safety precautions while embracing dubious science that suggested that people pleading for air do not need urgent intervention” (NY Times). This essay will present evidence from media releases and analysis using the social stratification theories to present an overview of the social stratification concept prevalent in the United States.
- Assessment
The situation presents reflects more on the Conflict Theory researched by Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), where he explained society as a collection of people belonging to a variety of social classes. These classes are in constant conflict in a competition for resources among them food and housing, education and employment among others. The concept explains the singling out of black men on the topic of police brutality. These reasons include the fact that the cases all happen in the poorer neighbourhoods of the United States meaning that the victims were of low or no income. As a survival mechanism, the turn to crime like using a fake $20 bill or selling untaxed cigarettes or riding a bike at night without a safety light. Secondly, the scenario presents the police department with a conundrum where they have to ensure the safety of the streets but are often tasked with the duty to constantly keep black low-income young men from causing trouble in the areas they patrol. Thirdly, is the generalisation of the black young men insubordination component by the various police departments causing them to be more aggressive in a confrontation with them that with another Caucasian young female or male committing the same crime. And lastly, the view by the entire black community that the police are enemies and threats to their survival. These factors propel the conflict theory as Max Weber later added to the theory saying that different groups are affected differently based on race, gender and education level.
The article itself by New York Times covers the issue as an inequality problem with a subheading stating, “The deaths of Eric Garner in New York and George Floyd in Minnesota created national outrage over the use of deadly police restraints. There were many others you didn’t hear about” (NY Times). The issues discussed are presented as social problems in the society making the authors aware of the social conflict that exists. Statements like “Mr Floyd’s dying words have prompted a national outcry over law enforcement’s deadly toll on African-American people, and they have united much of the country in a sense of outrage that a police officer would not heed a man’s appeal for something as basic as air” makes it very clear that the authors support an idea that terrible crimes have been done towards a specific race of people and it needs to stop.
Karl Marx suggested that as far as there were humans and these humans did things and said things, there would always be conflict and variation in social status. The middle income black men living in the United States could likely continue to suffer injustices not because of a biased police department but because of the current status of the society. Social conflict is unstoppable and has to happen. It is no wonder that the greatest nations in the world begun their success stories after a major conflict like civil wars or world wars perhaps in line with the wise saying that, before calm, comes the storm.
References
Nytimes.com. Three Words. 70 Cases. The Tragic History of ‘I Can’t Breathe. Retrieved on 5th August 2020 from https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/28/us/i-cant-breathe-police-arrest.html
