Class Act

I really hope that my attempt to be somewhat politically correct here is obvious, but I have got to speak on this issue. There is a double standard amongst the classes, or it could be formally educated vs. non-formally educated, that exists, and it will seep into a conversation near you. I'm sure that anyone who graduated from a highly respected university, or maybe even just graduated from any college, can feel me. I graduated from Emory University iwth my bachelor's degree, and I have often felt that people, even my family, have made slick remarks about what that represents. "Oh you know thats the 'Emory girl," or "that must be an 'Emory' joke," or "you know she's so educated, Ms. Emory."

I'm kind of at a lost for what an "Emory girl" is, and I didn't know that we had our own set of jokes. It's somewhat of a condascending, "she thinks she's all that," attitude that comes across as a joke, but you know there's something else that lies beneath it. I doubt that I would get the same response had I gone to a historically black college, a community college, or a predominantly white school with less prestige. And though I just finished my masters at Georgia State, no one thinks that we have our own jokes, or that I should have a "Georgia State girl" nickname. It's like we look down on each other if we feel someone else has "made it" or gotten an education that supasses what is deemed appropriate for blacks. I'm sorry that Emory was calling my name, and I answered.

I was at a town hall meeting the other day, and there was a panel of "experts" that were speaking about the violence in the black community. There were lawyers, a judge, community activists, and teachers on the panel. As to be expected at a panel discussion, they had on their Sunday's best. Some of the people in the audience, who quite frankly were from the neighborhood, and didn't seem to have had any formal education, downed the panelists for how they were dressed. "What you are saying is going to go in one ear and out the otehr because of what you are wearing. I feel as if I can't relate to you." Now while that might be true, and an issue to be addressed, what if the shoe were on the other foot? "What you're saying is going in one ear and out the othr because you have your pants sagging down to your knees. You have on a hat in the auditorium, and you have gold teeth. I feel as if I can't relate to you." I highly doubt any of the panelists would have gotten any "Amens!" on that.

It's seems like people with less education or that come from a lower tax bracket, are able to get away with saying disrepectful, aggressive things to their educated counterparts. If we were to start the insults, or say something in return, then we would be seen as forgetting where we came from, thinking that we are better than others, that we cannot relate to anyone that is not as educated as we are, or even that we have "sold out." Maybe it is a defense mechanism, where one feels as if they have to dismiss something that they have not achieved, in order to feel better about it. At the end of the day, I enjoy having friendships with people from all walks of life. It makes me well rounded. Why not respect the differences amongst people instead of using it as a way to separate and classify "for" and "against?"