Date: October 9 2021
Summary: An overview on my current thinking about equity and those who
Keywords: #advantage #disadvantage #equity ##thought #race #class #archive
Not Available
This concerns my evolving thoughts concerning those who move from a state of historical advantage to one of disadvantage. The language of advantage to disadvantage comes from a Dr. Sylvie [XXX] who described this notion first at the [2021 NAHDO Conference]. <!–Find Dr. Sylvie's last name–>
Of particular note, there has been the emergence of a sub-class of persons in the United States amongst the low-income communities. Unlike historically marginalized people groups, such as African Americans, Asian American and Pacific Islanders, or Latin Americans, this particular sub-class exists at the intersection of traditional disadvantage and historical advantage: Caucasian. How can a class of such long-standing advantage find itself disadvantaged is the very question I have been thinking about.
I recall from a talk from the MIT Health Equity Conference that a Dr. [XXX] said the phrase, "Race is not monolithic." <!–Find reference to MIT talk and Dr's name–> That statement I think could also be extended to class structure as the aphorism, "Class is not monolithic." In popular discussion, the conversation about disadvantaged populations generally have focused particularly at the intersection of disadvantage-disadvantage with respect to race and class. Yet, the intersection of advantage-disadvantage produces an uncomfortable problem: how should we handle these populations?
This intersectional breakdown could be summarized loosely as follows:
| Type | Race | Class | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historically advantaged | Advantaged | Advantaged | Victorian aristocracy, robber barons |
| Emerging advantaged | Disadvantaged | Advantaged | Textile traders, public servants |
| Transitional disadvantaged | Advantaged | Disadvantaged | Coal miners, share croppers |
| Apparent disadvantaged | Disadvantaged | Disadvantaged | Slaves, serfs |
Zelko, Jacob. Advantage to Disadvantage - Working Thoughts. https://jacobzelko.com/10092021131742-advantaged-to-disadvantaged. October 9 2021.