Classism

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. This old saying has been thrown around for years. It insinuates that we always think there is something better out there, and to attain it, we need to uproot and leave our current position. However, what this saying fails to consider is maybe our position isn’t the problem. Maybe being on the other side of the fence doesn’t change the root issue.  Maybe the problem has nothing to do with your situation, circumstance or location, but instead is internal. What if the problem is you? We see this issue being brought to the fore front in the House on Mango Street and more specifically in Cathy Queen of Cats.

Cathy Queen of Cats depicts a conversation between Esperanza and Cathy where Cathy talks about the state of the neighborhood and how she plans on moving very soon. Cathy claims that she is related to the Queen of France and seems to think of herself as superior to her neighbors. Cathy implies that her neighborhood is holding her back and that after she moves, the grass will be greener on the other side of the fence and her life will begin to flourish.

When analyzing this chapter, the first portion of text that really stood out was when Cathy talks about the two girls across the street; “They’re okay except don’t lean on the candy counter. Two girls raggedy as rats live across the street. You don’t want to know them” (Cisneros 12). In this text, the reference to rats is no mistake. Cathy does this to dehumanize the girls who live down the street and paint them as animalistic. Cathy says this simply because the girls don’t fit her view of normal or ideal. These girls are likely minorities and are likely very poor. However, the irony of the situation is that Cathy is living in the same rundown neighborhood and is likely just as poor but despite this she still looks down her nose at them.

The next portion of text that I found interesting was when Cathy says, “Okay, I’ll be your friend. But only till next Tuesday. That’s when we move away. Got to. Then as if she forgot I just moved in, she says the neighborhood is getting bad” (Cisneros 13). The “until next Tuesday” part of this quote is very powerful, because it insinuates that after Cathy moves, they can no longer be friends. Cathy thinks that after she moves out, she will be better than Esperanza, and the thought of being friends with someone below her is ridiculous. This idea of putting people into classes that can only associate with others in their class is absurd and discriminatory. This dangerous line of thinking also causes Cathy to be extremely rude to Esperanza. When Cathy references the neighborhood getting bad, she might as well smack Esperanza right in the face. Telling someone that a place is now worse because of them is extremely manipulative and is Cathy’s way of showing her superiority over Esperanza.

Cathy is caught up in this fantasy that once she leaves her neighborhood and is no longer surrounded by people like Esperanza, her life will improve. What Cathy fails to realize is that she is the root of her problems. Cathy is very insecure about who she is as a person and seems to derive her value from the idea that one day she will have money and live in a better neighborhood. However, once she moves out, she will still have all the same issues she has currently. Being surrounded by wealthier people of higher class won’t fix the insecurities she has about herself.

This example boils down to classism. Not only do we see classism in the House on Mango Street, but we also see classism around us in our world today. BLM primarily focuses on race, but one of the biproducts of racism is classism. Racism continues to occur to this day. This results in black American’s not having equal opportunity, and on average, have struggled more economically because of this. This has created a class system that puts more minorities towards the lower classes on average. As more and more people become aware of systemic racism and its effects, they should also be taught about classism. If we don’t address classism with racism, then we just shift the problem from a race issue to class issue and never get to the root of the problem.

-Matt Sumner

Works Cited

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Morningbooks, 2004.

GoStrategic. “Racism & Classism.” GoStrategic, 13 Sept. 2016, http://www.gostrategic.org/bottom-line-archive/racism-classism/.