What is Classism?
By Diana Le

Classism is a system that exists in our society that puts people into categories based on wealth, or how much money a family has or doesn't have. Have you heard of upper class, middle class, and lower class? These are some of the categories that classism has created. (The upper class is wealthy while the lower class is poor.)

People may face the prejudices of classism everyday without realizing it. Picture in mind a public school located in a rich area. The school probably has everything it needs to function as a school. Its students enjoy their plentiful activities and field trips, get picked up by the school bus everyday, and receive the quality education that every student deserves. These students from this school most likely grow up to succeed in society.

On the other hand, picture yourself in a poor or underfunded area. Your public school probably does not have books for you to learn from or enough teachers to instruct classes. (Sound familiar?) You feel like school is a waste of your time; so instead of continuing school, you go out to find a job. Years later, you find yourself still working a minimum-wage job and the chances of striking it rich is slim. (Fortunately, the story does not and will not go this way for you, right?)

As you can see, classism exists to keep the poor people poorer and the rich people richer. Sadly, that's the way our society works. Classism doesn't just happen at school, it happens everywhere and anywhere. So, YBIP gives trainings and workshops for low-income Asian immigrant youth to learn about these and related issues that affect them. They can then understand why and how our society works the way it does and think about how to change it, one step at a time.