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ACTION AGAINST CLASSISM

http://underclassrising.net/ | 25.01.2009 10:35 | Sheffield

As reported on {1}Snookcocker the {2}Runnymede Trust have released the findings of a new study on classism in the UK. The paper, entitled ‘Who Cares About The White Working Class?’, the report states…


The white working classes are discriminated against on a range of different fronts, including their accent, their style, the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the social spaces they frequent, the postcode of their homes, possibly even their names. But they are not discriminated against because they are white.

The real force behind this blatant prejudice is – and has always been – the UK’s open tolerance of rampant and institutionalised CLASSISM (in fact classism is so neglected that even your spellchecker will not recognise the word).

{3}The Barnsdale Brigade hail from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, which is officially one of the poorest areas in Europe. 80% of the children who attend our local school are from deprived backgrounds and a third of families are ‘breadline poor’ – a level of poverty that excludes people from participating in the ‘norms of society’. Local children are bright, happy and fitter than the UK average, but they still struggle in adulthood; one of the main reasons for children ‘failing’ in this area is the lack of aspirations instilled by parents and the wider community. This is not the fault of the parents; it is the legacy of classism.

At work, in school and especially in the media we’re bombarded with negative class stereotypes that most people would find truly shocking if the focus of attention were on race, sexuality or gender. Middle class kids indulge in ‘Chav Parties’, people who live in poverty are treated with unconcealed disdain and the BBC frequently reinforce class based stereotypes in their comedy, drama, arts and even documentary scheduling. It is this constant barrage of classism is ultimately responsible for the low levels of aspiration and self-belief that cripple social mobility in poorer areas – that and the fact that the middle class constantly rail-road attempts to address the issue by leeching off the schemes that were created to help poorer families.

Inspired by the work of U.S. based {4}‘Class Action‘, we are going to focus our attention on raising awareness and promoting positive action against classism. We want to mirror the work of Class Action in the UK, this would help raise class awareness, raise levels of aspiration in poor communities and fight against the institutionalised classism of schools, employers and the media. To these ends we would like to develop workshops, collate any relevant data and develop a UK website. We would also offer free/low-cost practical community education designed to help counter some of the problems that inequality and classism helps to create. We’re not planning to head down the charity route, but if anyone out there can help provide a postal address and/or office equipment (or money towards a PO Box and equipment) then we would, of course, be very grateful. Likewise anyone who wants to help get this idea off the ground please email us at  verymerrymen@gmail.com

{1} http://snookcocker.blogspot.com/

{2} http://www.runnymedetrust.org/

{3} http://barnsdale.wordpress.com

{4} http://www.classism.org/

http://underclassrising.net/
- e-mail: http://underclassrising.net/
- Homepage: http://underclassrising.net/

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Huh?

25.01.2009 13:16

I don't understand why you've made this racial distinction?

Joe (AFed)


different classes

26.01.2009 04:23

joe,

Read, process and react like normal, but before you post next time reread, reprocess and only then react.

The racial distinction is in the title of the report ‘Who Cares About The White Working Class?’. The article posted here starts 'The white working classes are discriminated against on a range of different fronts, ...But they are not discriminated against because they are white.'

The article is criticising the reports false racism, not promoting it. "I don't understand why THEY've made this racial distinction?' would have been a valid if vaccuous point, but by falsely accusing underclassrising of making 'racial distinctions' is either awfully stupid or awfully malicious since the only distinction they make is class. Maybe the AF should attend a few less Day Schools and a few more evening classes in their local school. They have classes in reading to suit every level of ability, they can help folk with their numbers too.
I speak from under any underclass up there, and I'm staying put.

dandy


Yeah, it seemed pretty clear to me...

26.01.2009 13:44

Just to say that I see where you're coming from - since the BBC ran a series on the "white working class" last year, and it was in the title of that report, it's clearly not a racial distinction the Barnsdale Brigade have just come up with, and the whole piece was arguing from a class perspective, not a racial one. Good to see more people interested in class struggle anarchism in South Yorkshire, anyway.

Sam (AF)


Dealing with the renegades

27.01.2009 00:02

Seems we are all laying claim to the soul of the working class.


"Understandably the emergence of the ‘underclass’ (with the working poor being wrongly included) has been greeted with glee by many right-wing academics. Usually because it affords them a soft target, an ideal opportunity, without ever appearing to over-reach, to justify the existing order and validate middle class prejudice. Among the more seriously motivated the scrutiny of this new social set is to discern if it might carry a possible threat to the existing political order. In actual fact they needn’t worry, for as an effective fifth column it is already proving a considerable buttress to the status quo though arguably still in its infancy".
 http://www.iwca.info/?p=10134

Jarvis Cocker


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