This week we explore the role of religion in America and there are many directions we can go. However, it seems only fair that as students at the largest Catholic University in America we spend our blog discussion on the role of religion on campus. We have already discussed the role of various socializing factors in our political values and ideology. Outside of our parents it is hard to argue that anything has much more of an impact on our political outlook that our education and our religion (including those of us who are nonreligious). And for much of us those two elements have been linked through parochial schooling at various levels. Obviously we all have various religious affiliations and range in our religious observance from extremely observant to completely nonreligious.
I would like you to address the role the religion plays in your views about society, and by extension about political issues. Have these beliefs been affected by your schooling, whether parochial or public? Please share any thoughts about the nature of religion and politics at DePaul. We are clearly a Catholic institution that leans fairly heavily toward more liberal social politics (generally speaking). What have you discovered about the religious life on campus that is is either surprising or particularly notable in terms of our school culture or politics? This should be a general discussion and you can feel free to expand or elaborate on any aspect of the prompts above or any comments of your classmates.
There are many aspects to our identities, individually, as communities, and as a nation. Some are much more visible than others. We have discussed race and ethnicity which has been used to identify, separate and discriminate in various ways through American history. Often people are identified in ways other than how they would identify themselves and other times people from marginalized communities have attempted to “pass” as those in a favored group. Among many aspects of our identities, class is central, but is less obvious to many. However our class inequalities as a society are just as stark. First remind yourself what income levels fall under the institutionally constructed definition of “poverty” here. Next explore some statistics from the U.S. Census breaking down the numbers and percentages of those in poverty by age, race, and Hispanic origin here: Table 3. Poverty Status of People, by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin. Pay careful attention to the percentage of those under 18 are growing up in poverty and how those numbers vary by race.
There are shocking correlations between race, ethnicity, and class, however, extreme poverty along with those living above the poverty line but still struggling mightily to provide for their families affects people living all around the country, regardless of race, national origin, or ethnicity. And it impacts our politics, policies, and political views in many ways. Some have read Hillbilly Elegy for other classes which talk about this phenomenon at length.
I am interested to hear your thoughts about class inequality, and whether or not the government should play a different, greater, or smaller role in trying to alleviate it. But more important, I am wondering how you have been socialized to think about class:
- Is it something that has been made visible to you through social groups, your communities, schools, organizations, friends, family, representations on media?
- Have you been socialized to understand the full range of class in America? Or has class remained a largely invisible issue for you.
- How should we think about it in terms of American identity and our relationship with our local, state, or national government?
Over the past week we have been reading and discussing several ideas connected to privilege. Most notably we read Peggy McIntosh's "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," which described white privilege and gave a number of examples that we discussed in class last week. The concept of privilege clearly can be applied to many areas beyond race, including gender, geography, and class. Recently the topic of privilege has made the news based, in part, on the increasingly common use of the phrase: "Check your privilege." The use of this phrase and various reactions to it have spun into many different dialogues weaving their way through the blogosphere, social media, and cable television (including this recent argument rejecting the concept by Ben Shapiro).
For this week's blog I would like you to focus on the debate emanating from Princeton University a couple of years ago centered on this phrase. First read the post that started much of the recent uproar written by a Princeton freshman here. Next read the public response to the first argument written by another Princeton student and printed in TIME Magazine here (you may also want to check out the I Too Am Princeton Tumblr here).
Much of the debate centers on whether there is, in fact, privilege and whether this supports or disproves meritocracy. I would like to hear your thoughts now after reading these arguments.
- Does meritocracy exist in America?
- Is it affected by race or class or any other factors?
- What do you think about the use of the phrase "check your privilege," and other attempts by some to make privilege more visible?
What happens in the past shapes, in part, our perspectives and choices in the present. Over the course of the past two centuries the United states has become the most diverse nation on earth and Chicago, one of its most diverse (and segregated) cities (see the diversity index video and map data). These trends are continuing as immigration and demographic data show that the white population in America is not growing at near the rate of other racial groups. After looking at the data from our readings over the past two weeks, what do you think this growing diversity (and segregation) means for the U.S.? What does it mean for particular areas like Chicago? How do we, as a nation, think about and treat different types of diversity differently? What are the strengths and/or weaknesses and what does it mean in terms of American political identity?
Please try to create as much of an online dialogue as possible by commenting on classmates ideas and/or replying to them. Thanks.
Due to our missed class last week due to some historic cold we are extending our discussion of media through this week. As a result, I'd love to build on your discussion of last weeks blog here. You described the issues that you think are most important last week and how well (or poorly) they are being covered. Now I would like to hear about how media affects your views and American culture broadly, and our political culture in particular. This is particularly useful on one of the biggest media weeks on the calendar. We have the most watched television event each year (the Super Bowl) and the most watched political event, the Super Bowl of Politics, the State of the Union on Tuesday night (I know you are excited). So thinking broadly about media, and its effect on our individual, collective, or national views...
- What sources of media (movies, news, TV, music, friends on social media, other...) are most influential in your views about politics and policies? What are most influential nationally?
- How would you compare the impact of media on the American public in comparison to other forces we have discussed like education, our families, religion, government, etc.?
- What could be done to help American media be more helpful to political culture in the U.S?
