There is a very fine line between what I consider cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation tends to happen quite a bit within the music industry. A great chunk of music history can be traced back to Africa where music is said to have been invented. When researching music history, we can trace the origins of rock and roll, jazz, and the blues to work songs that originated in the south during slavery. Work songs played an important role in the lives of enslaved Africans, they were typically sung to express feelings and were passed down through generations of enslavement. The interesting thing is that, unless you take a music course, it is often unknown where the music actually came from. Artists who “borrowed” from black culture rarely give credit where credit is due. The problem today is that the cultural appropriation is occurring among music fan bases, more specifically hip hop.

One of the most ridiculous things we see today is the “borrowing” of Black culture as a means of making some sort of profit. This pattern can be seen when we look at celebrities like Miley Cyrus, who have made a fortune by appropriating black culture. As a young girl, I grew up watching Hannah Montana and considered myself to be a huge fan of her music. It came as a surprise when I looked at my television and saw Cyrus twerking on stage at the MTV music awards. Her persona had completely developed, she was rapping, she was cussing in her music, and she even began to talk differently. This change of persona blew up her image and brought her back to stardom. A short while after this rebellion, Cyrus had an interview in which she mentioned something along the lines of not wanting to be a part of rap culture anymore because it emphasized violent behavior and the disrespect of women. This claim came after her “Bangerz” tour earned $62 million, the album was heavily influenced by hip-hop culture and even featured several rappers who welcomed Cyrus into hip hop culture with open arms. Black culture is not to be borrowed from irresponsibly, and if ever an artist decides to profit from it, that artist should uplift the culture rather than knock it down.

To enjoy hip hop music responsibly, I believe that it’s important for white fans to recognize that black culture is not theirs to portray. We often see fans who have immersed themselves so far into the culture that they find it appropriate to use the “n-word” every five seconds. White fans must recognize that there a level of respect that must always be honored, especially when it comes to the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation.

Competitive sports played an important role at Lodi High school, where the only thing to do on a Friday night was either go to a game or get drunk in the vineyards. Of the many sports offered at the school, football and basketball were the most significant. The difference in these sports wasn’t so much dependent on the performance of the team, but rather who played and who sat the bench. The athletes that performed successfully, regardless of wins or losses, were given immediate hierarchy among all students.

Football season was the first to arrive meaning that about 50+ boys would try out for the team, all of them would make it of course just in case anyone got injured. Of those fifty boys, only eleven of them would be allowed on the field at a time. Most of the team members would never set foot on the field and in many ways would only join the team to be a part of the “popular” crowd. This meant that the eleven who did play were considered high school royalty among students, while those who did not play were considered to be lower on the social hierarchy scale. On game days, football players would often wear their jerseys to school and tailgates were held before games as a means of stirring up excitement. The popular football players would hold their tailgate while those who didn’t play were rarely invited to attend. At the time, I had a boyfriend who was the kicker for the football team. Although he was never told directly that he couldn’t attend, he would always get made fun of for being the kicker and therefore felt like he wasn’t a part of the team. For the most part, the dynamics of the football team remained the same across my four years of high school.

Basketball, on the other hand, was different. To try out for basketball, it was important that you already had an existing relationship with at least one of the coaches. The tryouts for basketball were much more rigorous and skill was required to be a part of the team. This meant that anyone who made the basketball team was immediately considered high school royalty, unlike football. Since the group was a lot smaller, this meant that they were all much closer in terms of friendship. For both sports, the social boundaries that existed were only used to separate popular people from the regular students, for example, you would never see a band member and a basketball player hanging out. If you were a girl and you wanted to be in with the crowd, you either had to be a member of the cheer team or you had to at least be considered attractive. The irony in all this is that sports are meant to unify the student body when instead, they seem to cause separation.

The amount of information concerning the poor is endless as they provide us with the most accessible research on social inequality. However, rarely do we ever see documentaries dealing with the wealthy and rarely are we ever given a glimpse into their lives. In this article by Stephen Higley, we look into the lives of some of the wealthiest families in America and the methods by which they isolate themselves from common society.

Within the U.S. upper class is an educational system by which the wealthy aim to pass on traditional values to their children. It is very common for children in these families to attend private educational institutions that would otherwise be inaccessible to children of lower social status. Many of these private institutions cost thousands of dollars a year, assuring that only those of high social and economic status can attend. My sister went to a private Lutheran elementary school for about two years, because it was the only school that provided extended daycare for preschool children. During this time, my parents had to work a few extra hours just to pay her yearly tuition. At the time, my sister was one of the only non-white, non-Lutheran students in the entire school. There were times where we would attend school events only to be met with dirty looks, it felt as though we were never welcomed there. It felt as though we had invaded their space and they resented us for it. The wealthy aim to draw barriers between their children and the common society. Entering this world was my first look at what it might be like to have money.

I’ve been well aware for a while now the wealth distribution in the United States isn’t exactly equitable. The wealthiest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, has a net worth of approximately 112 billion dollars, a net worth that would take the average American multiple lifetimes to earn. There is this idea in the United States that says that anyone and everyone can succeed, the American Dream is within reach for all of us, or at least that’s what we’ve been told. The reality is that the system is set up for only a few to succeed as true wealth in the United States is measured by privilege. As we have learned in the last few weeks, certain inborn characteristics drive success and opportunity in the United States. Certain marked categories may make it difficult for people to obtain upward mobility in terms of income. As a woman and a minority, I will more than likely have to deal with what is known as the glass ceiling, an unseen barrier that blocks upward mobility regardless of my skills or achievements. Because of my permanent characteristics, I will have to work harder and run faster to reach the other side of the wall.

The interesting thing about this video was that it showed the different perspectives the average American has about wealth distribution in the United States. Most Americans aren’t aware of how dramatic the difference is between what we consider the “rich” and the top 1%. This idea makes me wonder why so Americans are oblivious to the reality of wealth distribution in the United States. I believe that the truth is often hidden from us, the government, to protect the elite, has failed to inform it’s citizens by brushing over the topic of wealth distribution. Information like this is often kept from the average American, or at least made difficult to find, in an attempt to maintain the image of the American Dream.

According to multiple sources, the middle class makes up about 68%of the U.S. population. These days, it’s getting more and more difficult to move up from poverty due to many circumstances that are beyond one’s control. The lack of cultural, social, and economic capital makes it difficult for people to escape poverty. However, there are still many instances in which those who’ve experienced poverty their whole lives can move up, ensuing a sense of culture shock in which one might find themselves caught between two different worlds.

Joan M. Morris’s Moving Up from the Working Class is a collection of testimonies given by sociologists who grew up in working class families. The testimonies given in this excerpt exemplify what it’s like to be a part of this social class and how difficult it can be to attain upward mobility. When I was a year old, my family migrated to the United States from Mexico, upon our arrival, my parents had no more than a few hundred dollars in their pockets. For the first few years, we slept in a garage with three other family members. Eventually, we got kicked out by the city and we had nowhere to go. Today, my parents own multiple properties and make enough money for things like vacations, cars, and my college tuition. This transition was a dramatic one as we went from having nothing to having more than enough.

In this excerpt, Morris talks about the difficulties a working class member might experience when applying for college. By the time I was 14 years old, we no longer had to worry about shelter, clothing, or food. However, growing up in the working class meant that no one in my family had ever been to college before. The idea of going to college was encrypted in me since I was old enough to understand what it meant. My parents always told me that if I didn’t want to work in the fields, I would have to obtain an education and finish what they came here for. As the first child of an immigrant family, there is a lot of pressure on me to succeed, the same goes for those who are working class. Being an illegal immigrant meant that the application and financial aid process were going to be a little bit more difficult for me. It was hard for me to find answers to many questions that I had because there was a lack of resources for DACA students. When it came time to apply for school, my lack of social capital meant that I would have to do these things all on my own. For my first two years at Delta College, I was paying around $2,000 per semester because I was not aware that there were financial aid opportunties for DACA students like myself. Recently, Delta has opened up a DACA resource center, which is something that didn’t exist around the time I started going to college. However, it makes me happy to know that resources like this exist because so many working class/immigrant families don’t realize that there are people out there who want to help. It’s not impossible to move up from the working class, but it’s important to understand that for many people, outside influences might make it extremely difficult.

It feels unusual to look at poverty as a functional, necessary part of society. Often, when people are asked what they would change about the world, most of them will tell you things like “I would end racism” or “I would find a cure for cancer.” For me, and for many others, my answer to this question was that I would find a way to end poverty. Poverty is ugly. Poverty is not having enough food on the table. Poverty is living in a two-bedroom apartment with nine other family members. Poverty induces suffering, and for most people poverty is inescapable. In this excerpt, Herbert J. Gans explains how poverty is an essential part of our society and how the survival of certain sectors depends solely on the existence of the poor.

If we were to look at poverty through the lens of functionalism, we would reach the understanding that our society could not survive without the existence of the poor. Certain professions like social work, criminology, and public health would not be necessary if we found a way to eliminate poverty. There was one specific example that struck me as I never considered the connection this sector might have with poverty. The pentecostal religion has been prominent in my family for the last ten years. My family is predominantly Catholic and deeply religious, for the most part, there is very little diversity when it comes to religion in my family. My close aunt, however, converted to pentecostalism when she married the father of her children. Although they are no longer together, she and her children remain active participants of the pentecostal religion. The connection Gans makes between poverty and pentecostalism was not exactly clear to me until I started to reflect on the experiences I had within the church. Anytime my aunt got the chance to, she would take me to church with her, possibly with the intent of converting me to her religion. There were certain patterns that I began to notice, such as the fact that the leaders of the church tended to be wealthy, white people. The followers tended to be people of Hispanic descent, many of them were single moms, like my aunt. The most important pattern I began to notice was that the churches were often located in low-income neighborhoods. Within the pentecostal religion, there is this idea of being “special” as many followers believe that being saved by their religion is the only means of avoiding hell. This idea of being “special” can be very appealing to those who resent their life on earth, such as the poor. Poverty, as I mentioned before, causes suffering. My aunt, a single mom with two kids, suffered plenty at the hands of poverty. The pentecostal religion appeals to the poor because it promises that life after death will be nothing but blissful.

These days, obtaining commodities like chocolate or coffee is fairly easy to do. With nearly 27,000 Starbucks worldwide and more chocolate brands than we can imagine, the average American has no difficulty indulging in these delicacies. The average American, however, often fails to consider the labor that went into the production of such goods. The fetishization of these finished products has caused us to develop an ignorance that disregards the exploitation that occurs behind brands like.

Coffee has never been appealing to me. The flavor itself disgusts me and when I do decide to drink it, my anxiety levels go through the roof. On the other hand, my mother goes to Starbucks so much that the lady in the drive-thru knows exactly what her car looks like. For the most part, Starbucks does a good job of maintaining its reputation, so much so that I was not aware of the affiliation the brand has with coffee plantations that use slave-like labor. According to the Fair World Project, “Workers have been found in slavery-like conditions on Brazilian plantations selling to Starbucks for the second time in nine months. ” This is an ongoing, active campaign that has been pushing for change, asking Starbucks to participate in real fair trade. Starbucks has adopted a model of sustainability known as C.A.F.E., or Coffee And Farmer Equity, in which the company addresses the social and environmental needs of all the participants in the coffee supply chain from farmer to consumer. This sustainability model, however, has not been accurate over the years as Starbucks has failed to meet its standards. Regardless of its commitment to “99%” ethical coffee”, Starbucks has a serious slave labor problem. In countries like Brazil, plantations that have been linked to Starbucks are reported to have poor working conditions in which workers have no access to sanitation systems and often deal with debilitating workdays. These conditions do not support the company’s C.A.F.E. standards, their commitment to “99% ethical coffee” is simply a marketing strategy.

The image Starbucks upholds is drastically different from what we see in the Brazil coffee plantations. When walking through the Danner Hall cafeteria, I noticed a sign by the coffee station that read, “Starbucks promises to only brew fair trade coffee.” I laughed out loud as I thought about the companies history of participating in the exploitation of human beings. This “sustainability” talk can also be seen on the companies website where there are many different articles you can read about how Starbucks is creating a better market place for farmers all around the world, these claims, however, are false. Starbucks is choosing to buy coffee beans from these centers of exploitation rather than buying coffee from small-scale farmers around the world who are ready and waiting to sell their coffee on fair trade contracts. Rather than addressing these exploitation issues, Starbucks has instead doubled down on marketing by plastering their website with claims that they are an environmentally and socially responsible company. This incentive has served as a way for the company to preserve its reputation so that it can continue to sell coffee at the exploitation of other human beings.

When I first started applying for jobs, I remember turning in applications to places like Hollister, Forever 21, and Victoria’s Secret. These were jobs that I deemed attractive and desirable, even if the pay was only minimum wage. When I didn’t get any callbacks, my mother suggested that I try applying at fast-food restaurants, I remember looking at her like, “Who do you think I am?” Of course, now I don’t necessarily feel the same way, I realize that back then my opinion on working at McDonald’s was mostly influenced by my peers.

The thing was that I didn’t want to work at a McDonald’s because I was afraid I would see someone I know, the grey uniform wasn’t necessarily attractive to me, therefore, I refused to be seen in one. The idea of working somewhere like Hollister was appealing to me because I could wear whatever I wanted. On top of the uniform, Hollister was a popular brand in high school and I would have been proud if someone I knew found out I worked there. Due to the high status of the company, I didn’t mind the fact that the pay was only minimum wage. Working at a fast-food restaurant was seen as social suicide unless you were working at In n Out. I never got my dream job and instead, my first job was at Marshall’s department store, which wasn’t too bad considering that I could wear whatever I wanted.

According to William Van Dusen Wishard, we are living between two dramatically different ages, the next 30 years will perhaps be the most crucial for human life. The two ages can be divided as such, the first including things like the dominance of print communication and immigration coming primarily from Europe. The second age consisting of things like the rise of electronic communication and immigration coming primarily from Latin America and Asia. According to Wishard, we are at what some might call the “right moment” for a fundamental change in principals and symbols. Many are suggesting we move away from this globalization of western culture and that instead, we move towards a more universal consciousness. Scientists all around the world have predicted the kind of era we are going into, many agree that the rise of technology could be potentially self-destructive for mankind. In this excerpt, Wishard explains the possible dangers that we could face as a human race and how we can avoid falling into a disaster.

According to Wishard, technological development in the 21st century is one of the most important trends moving us from one age to the next, technology alone has increased America’s GDP by $48 trillion. The scary thing about technology, however, is that it has to potential to become all too powerful, eventually surpassing human intelligence. Some scientists even suggest that at some point, the human race itself will become devalued and there will no longer be a need for human life. Artificial intelligence will have the capacity to feel the emotional and spiritual sensitivities of human beings, at this point humans will be the first species to create their own successors.

The idea of a brand new civilization of artificial intelligence has been presented in movies such as the popular I Am Mother on Netflix. The movie is about a young girl who is raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth, human beings have been completely wiped out by artificial intelligence as they were seen as imperfect creatures. The sole purpose of the robot is to create a new generation of humans, free of any imperfections. This future is similar to the one Wishard as talking about if artificial intelligence surpasses the intelligence of its own creators, who knows what it’s capable of. Perhaps the best thing this generation could do to prevent such an event from happening is limiting the amount of technological advancement in the next few years. If we continue to push the boundaries of the universe, we will be met with the ultimate consequences. 

Fast-food workers are often taken advantage of by the corporations they work for, many of them having to work long hours with little pay. The work itself can be exhausting especially for those who are employed by chains that promise 24-hour service to its customers, including holidays. The demand for a $15-hour minimum wage is justified as these workers are simply not compensated enough. It is about time that we hold corporations and their CEOs accountable.

I am somewhat familiar with the fast-food industry as I have close family members that have worked behind the counter. One of the most frustrating things about fast-food jobs is the unpredictability of one’s schedule. There are times where an employee, in desperate need of money, might only go into work for about two hours and then be told to go home due to it being a slow day. There may be instances where employees might be sent home early every single day of their work schedules, resulting in a disappointing paycheck. On the other hand, other days can be stressful and busy, employees might work up to 40 hours a week around the holiday season. The unpredictability of working in fast food can make it difficult for employees to get a second job because they don’t have set schedules. For this reason, it would be reasonable to raise the pay to $15. Many people are working in the fast-food industry who have families to support, the CEO’s of these corporations seem to forget about these employees, many of them being left behind in the dust.

The unionization of fast-food workers would prove to be beneficial for a lot of people. Factors such as higher pay and benefits would all encourage unionization among fast-food workers. There are little to no health benefits for these employees and the least companies could do is compensate for low wages with things like healthcare. However, if fast-food restaurants were to provide these benefits for their employees, unionization would then be discouraged. Aside from benefits, a company that values good relationships between management and employees, while also addressing employee concerns, would be less likely to see a union form. There are many things that these corporations can do to make life easier for their employees, it’s just a matter of when.