Answer any FOUR questions:

1.  In “Class in America”, Mantsios offers four beliefs that people generally hold about class in America, and then shows why those beliefs are not supported by facts – 

a.  the U.S is a classless society

b. the U.S is a middle-class society

c. everyone in the U.S. is getting richer

d. everyone in the U.S has an equal chance to succeed  

Select one of these four beliefs and use the reading, along with your own observations and experiences, to argue whether or not the belief you’ve selected is supported by facts.

2.  What were your first reactions to Benns article “Free Labor?’  What information was new or surprising to you?  Who benefits from mass incarceration?  Who is harmed?  How are race, class, and occupation entangled in this argument? 

https://onlabor.org/free-labor-past-and-present-forms-of-prison-labor/

https://onlabor.org/free-labor-the-systemic-implications-of-prison-labor/

3. Watch this TED Links to an external site. talk by Juno Mac on Sex Workers.  What are your first reactions?  What stereotypes and assumptions have you heard or hold about sex workers and the nature of sex work? Compare this to the article on “Free Labor” by Benns.  Are there similarities between those incarcerated and sex workers?  

4.  Take a look at this short reading on “Class Privilege” (read only Chapters 4 and 5) – https://resourcegeneration.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Classified.pdf

. NOTE: If you choose this question, you must answer both the questions below.  Read only Chapters 4 and 5.  

• This selection raises specific questions about many aspects of daily life where class privilege disadvantage can make a big difference—in major decisions, work and school, where you live, social situations. Select one of these areas and answer the questions that are highlighted in the article, reflecting on your class privilege and/or your class disadvantage (since most people have some of both).
• Think of examples of how other forms of privilege and disadvantage—based on race, gender, sexuality, age, ability, religion, and so on—intersect with your class privilege and/or class disadvantage.

5. 

Take a look at the reading “Students with Disabilities” – https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1064&context=jsfa

 Explain 3 factors that disproportionately affect the expense of higher education for students with disabilities.  Compare the challenges experienced by students with disabilities with the challenges experienced by other students from marginalized groups.  In what ways are the challenges similar and in what ways different?