Read on Twitter
This is interesting & important. I have sort of the reverse problem. I’ll explain in a short thread... https://twitter.com/samfriedmansoc/status/1351126197682507782
Having spent a lot of time working on ‘community’ projects + hanging about in working class areas in Yorkshire I know I’m not W/C because other people who are, don’t see me as one of them. I wish they did, but they don’t. However, middle class people see me as W/C because:
1. I speak with an accent 2. I’m from Oop North. 3. I was abused as a child (I know, I know). I’ve never identified myself as working class though I’m proud of working class roots & suffered many indignities as a child that cancelled out some of my privilege. This is because...
I know the difference is important, makes a material difference to life & how others treat you and is no small thing in British Culture. We are SO BAD at understanding class, despite it being at the centre of almost everything we do, say & think.
I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of shabby treatment from people who considered me to be working class because of 1. 2. 3. Above. I’ve also been given jobs because middle class people identified me as someone ‘from the community’ .
And this leaves me feeling kind of bogus. My parents didn’t go to university but me & my sisters did, plus my Dad was an engineer (night school HND) who ran his own business & is responsible for the machine that made smarties shiny, weirdly. He travelled & designed stuff....
My mum, despite her madness & dysfunction owned businesses worth a couple of million when she sank into psychosis. Both my sisters trained to be lawyers. But we grew up neglected, abused, I didn’t finish school, etc. We need a much better understanding of what #class means in UK
