To identify certain cultural norms and values as white or middlle class means that the domoinant group in society has all the power and privillages than other minority groups. Often times they are the leaders and the minority groups are the followers.The dominant group set certain standards that other groups should follow and maintain. However a society will operate more effectivly if dominant group 'whites'are able to understand the minority groups cultural,their identity and their views.
I think that values stop being white or middleclass when one should not have to live by the values, norms or beliefs of another group, but when every group can live by their own values and norms and also be seen as thier own individuals.
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The white middle class, as a dominant social group in the United States, certainly expect everyone else to follow a certain set of values and behaviors. But do the rest of us who are not white, not middle class, not heterosexual, not Christian also be expected to do so at the cost of our citizenship? What does our society LOSE by not recognizing the value of the cultural diversity that you write about, the unique and perfectly functional culture that your yourself are a part of? What are you going to teach your son about his identity and his culture as a Jamaican and as a black American?
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