# Is there such thing as a "White American Overclass"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 28, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-a-white-american-overclass/478975 "2008-12-28T17:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-a-white-american-overclass/478975/81 "2008-12-30T23:43:48Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Humble until they get to the Ivy League ,then co opted. Harvard removes the humble. That’s right to an extent, but it only underscores the point which has been made repeatedly in this thread, which is that the “overclass” described in the OP is not exclusive in the traditional sense that classes were exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-a-white-american-overclass/478975/82 "2008-12-31T02:31:04Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Although Chuck Schumer is just a regular dude, even today, that really seems to enjoy public service. I think if he were forced to go to some society event, he’d duck into the kitchen and watch sports with the waiters. Oh no. He’d be networking well-heeled New Yorkers (self-made ones, like him) to back him on some program or initiative. They don’t call him Chuck Schmoozer for nothing. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-a-white-american-overclass/478975/83 "2008-12-31T19:39:28Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Class aside, if you speak like the movers and shakers in your profession, that helps too. Nobody but an actor is going to _learn_ a Brooklyn accent, but having one will lend you an intellectual kind of street cred in professions with large numbers of New Yorkers. That’s not really true. First of all, a large number of “New Yorkers” were not actually born in New York City. Most of us come here from somewhere else because of the opportunities. A slight Brooklyn accent might give some local “street cred”, but for the most part, your big Manhattan client services companies (accounting, banking, consulting, law, etc) don’t want their associates talking like My Cousin Vinny. I can only speak from my own experiences. I was raised in a typical suburban town in Connecticut. Ok, it happens to be in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, but the town itself is a pretty regular middle-class town. You had some wealthy people. Some poor people. A lot of people in between. But no real slums or housing projects and no real big mansions either. So after graduation, people all kind of went their separate ways, as they tend to do. A few went Ivy League. A few more went to other prestigeous schools - BC, NYU, Brandeis, etc. A bunch went to state schools or community college or they joined the military. Some percentage probably did nothing. Looking at a sampling on Facebook, where these people, I could see what trajectory their life took after high school. The better educated of us went into fields like law, tech, finance or engineering (so called Overclass jobs). The less educated tended to take more blue collar or local jobs. So I guess my question is, what point where we destined to either be or not be part of the Overclass? Or by virtue of being raised in a predominantly white middle class suburb does that make pretty much all of us (even the dropouts and people who became roofers and cops) part of the Overclass since birth? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-such-thing-as-a-white-american-overclass/478975.md?page=4)