# "SOCIAL CLASS IN AMERICA" **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 4, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306 "2001-10-04T01:50:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jesse\_morrison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@jesse\_morrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesse_morrison)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/1 "2001-10-04T01:50:54Z")
Did anyone watch the PBS Documentary Film “People like us: Social Class in America”? I am a recently returned native of a Bible Belt City in the South (Clarksville, Tennessee). Clarksville is five miles from Fort Campbell Kentucky (Home of the 101st Airborne). The population here is around 140,000. I am member of a local internet discussion group. I am having a debate with one of the members about the social class WASP. My position is that there are no WASP’s residing in Clarksville, Tennessee. My opponent insists that he is a Privileged WASP in his mid fifties. His demeanor does not indicate that he is the kind of WASP that was portrayed in the PBS Documentary Film. What are the criteria for being classified a WASP? My thought is that it takes several generations of “passed down” old money to be in this group. My question is, how many generations, and how much money? Another question is, does the money and family have to stay in one location? For example, if a 21 year old WASP moves to a different city, will local WASP’s accept him/her? Will they be asking “who is your family”? Would the young WASP have to give conclusive evidence as to his/her breeding, or will this be apparant because of his/her WASP indicators? Does anyone know the history and origin of this class of people in the United States, or give me suggestions on how I would research it. I am guessing I could do this on the internet, but I need suggestions on the most time efficient way of approaching it. I usually like to get names of authors that have written about such subjects, and read their books, rather than reading articles off the internet. All this may appear to be a GREAT QUESTION. I disagree, I think it is a subject that can be debated. As the Documentary pointed out, there is much confusion as to which class people think they fit into. I have read Paul Fussell’s book “CLASS”, and am now reading his book “BAD OR THE DUMBING OF AMERICA”. jesse (redneck) p.s. Is frequent posting on “The Straight Dope” a social class indicator? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/2 "2001-10-04T02:01:51Z")
WASP = White Anglo-Saxon Protestant I don’t think that you have to be anything other than a white, anglo-saxon Protestant to be a part of the group. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/3 "2001-10-04T03:39:15Z")
Jesse, I have nothing to say regarding your WASP post. But I’d like to ask you to not post your subject headings in all caps. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![saudade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@saudade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saudade)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/4 "2001-10-04T04:15:06Z")
WASP may stand for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant”, but I think it usually imples a certain class of such people. I mean when we describe people as “Waspy” we have in mind William F. Buckley not Garth Brooks… I think, in the context of the “East Coast”: New England, New York, New Jersey, and so on, it refers to middle and upper class people whose roots can be traced back to the period before large scale Catholic and mainland European immigration (1840’s?). ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/5 "2001-10-04T11:11:30Z")
IF IT’S FREE FORM POETRY SHOULDN’T IT BE IN CAFE SOCIETY ? ---
**Author:** ![jesse\_morrison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@jesse\_morrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesse_morrison)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/6 "2001-10-04T14:40:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stuyguy \* > \*\*Jesse, I have nothing to say regarding your WASP post. But I’d like to ask you to not post your subject headings in all caps. Thanks. \*\* * * * WHY? isn’t debate all about male POSTuring? Truthfully, I am not a wannabe poet. I research emotions. I would respectfully like to know what emotions my redneck capitalizing of threads has elicited. Is redneck capitalizing of threads equivalent to a redneck talking loud and offensively? No, you are not an experimental subject. Thanks. jesse ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/7 "2001-10-04T16:08:27Z")
Jesse-no, it’s considered shouting, which is rude. Also, you DON’T have hit enter after each line-just keep typing and let the automatic wrap take care of it. Thank you, drive through. ---
**Author:** ![atypicalcarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@atypicalcarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atypicalcarl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-class-in-america/85306/8 "2001-10-04T17:00:49Z")
The series overview is [here](http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/resources/guide2.html). The link gives suggestions for further reading. It looks to me like the confusion over the term ‘WASP’ is caused by PBS using WASP to mean _rich_ WASP as the label for a social stratification class based on heritage and money. As **Guinastasia** and **London\_Calling** pointed out, pressing \ after every line is annoying. It makes your posts resemble bad poetry on many monitors. 🙂