Growing up working class : hidden injuries and the development of angry white men and women

275 Pages·2017·3.42 MB·English

by  GORMAN

G r o w i n g u p
Wo r k i n g C l a s s
Hidden Injuries and the Development
of Angry White Men and Women
THOMAS J. GORMAN
Growing up Working Class
Thomas J. Gorman
Growing up Working
Class
Hidden Injuries and the Development of Angry
White Men and Women
Thomas J. Gorman
Queens College, CUNY
Queens, New York, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-58897-1 ISBN 978-3-319-58898-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-58898-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017945351
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher
nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The p ublisher
remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and i nstitutional
affiliations.
Cover illustration: © Steinphoto / Getty Images
Cover design by Henry Petrides
Printed on acid-free paper
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
I dedicate this book to all the current and former residents
of my old neighborhood.
A
cknowledgments
When I would read the acknowledgments page in a book, I used to wonder
how authors could thank all the people who helped them write that text.
Now, I find myself facing that very task. I am tempted just to say, “Thanks
to all, you know who you are.” But I have decided not to do that and to
thank those who helped me in various ways to write this book. If I forget
anyone, I apologize. To begin, I must thank all those who live and lived
in my old neighborhood. They may not agree with everything I have writ-
ten about that neighborhood, but this book is dedicated to them. A few
notable new and old friends helped me clear up in my mind some issues
related to the manuscript—Victor Gullotta, Linda Hasman, and my life-
time good friend, Thomas Crockett. Also, I want to thank Maggi Kolb
Ostrowicki, who gave me permission to visit her mom’s house back in the
old neighborhood so I could take measurements of the typical apartment.
That sketch is included in the Appendix to Chap. 1.
The Administrations of both Queens College and Queensborough
Community College coordinated to create my current position at Queens
College. Those at Queens College who were instrumental in that arrange-
ment were Dr. Dana Weinberg and Dean Elizabeth Hendrey, along with
the support of Professor Suzanne Strickland. At Queens College, I was
able to secure a sabbatical, which gave me the time to write most of this
book. A very special thanks goes to Dr. Andrew Beveridge (Chair of the
Department of Sociology and President of Social Explorer) and Dr. Charles
Smith (Professor Emeritus) at Queens College in all that they did in secur-
ing my position and providing me with a sabbatical; they both went above
and beyond the call of duty.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
At Queens College I was helped in negotiating the data tables presented
in the Appendix to Chap. 1 by two people well versed in Social Explorer:
Susan Weber-Stoger and Sydney Beveridge. In addition, Sydney Beveridge
at Social Explorer went on to assist me in interpreting the census data, and
later she edited about half the manuscript, which helped remind me what
the written word should look like in the other half of the book. And to top
it off, Sydney created (in Social Explorer) the map of my old neighborhood
that appears in Chap. 1.
None of this would have been possible without the talented and
hard-working individuals at Palgrave Macmillan, especially my editor Alexis
Nelson and her assistant Kyra Saniewski. So, a big thank-you goes to Alexis
Nelson for believing in the importance of this kind of work. Evanjalin
Hephsiah and Soundarrajan Sudha were my production contacts and
they both did a great job. The copy editor and cover designer also did
ou tstanding work.
Of course, my family—of procreation—(Carolyn, Connor, Sean, and
Erin) needs to be thanked for putting up with me writing this book to all
hours of the night, looking like a zombie most days, and having all my
books scattered around the house. It helped that my wife, Carolyn, whom
I met while we were graduate students in sociology at SUNY Stony Brook,
still understands academic culture and all of its idiosyncrasies. She is cur-
rently in the business world and she is an excellent sociologist.
And yes, thanks mom and dad (and my brother and sister). While some
may see this book as an attempt to air a family’s—of orientation—dirty
laundry, I have written it with love and compassion for all of you. I think
it is a story that needs to be told, including the good and the bad, to show
the strength and resilience of our family and the working class. Hopefully,
this kind of instruction can contribute to a more inclusive society.
c
ontents
1 Introduction 1
2 Where Does the Concrete End? The Local Context
of the Hidden Injuries of Class 41
3 Education: The Hidden Injuries of Class Begin in Earnest 71
4 Previous Research on Education and The Hidden
Injuries of Class. My Educational Career Compared 103
5 Friends, Girlfriends, and Sports: The Injuries Escalate
and Become Personal 143
6 Social Structure and Culture: The Macro Context 181
7 Social Media: A “Reunion” of Angry (and Not So Angry)
White Working-Class Men and Women 209
ix
x CONTENTS
8 Conclusion: Hard and Settled Living
and The Development of Angry (And Not So Angry)
White Working-Class Men and Women 229
Bibliography 251
Index 263
l P
ist of hotos
Photo 1.1 Independent Subway Line, A Train, El—it runs
through Ozone Park on Liberty Avenue and goes
underground at Drew Street 17
Photo 1.2 Home, 2nd Floor, 97-23 76th Street—the author
lived there from 3½ years old till he was 16 18
Photo 1.3 Liberty Avenue—“The Avenue” looking west
from Drew Street, the Brooklyn/Queens border 20
Photo 1.4 106th Street, Ozone Park, Queens, 1973—author
looking proud of the newfound space between
our apartment and others 21
Photo 2.1 Elderts Lane House—with the red stoop., City Line, Brooklyn 42
Photo 2.2 Author’s block, 76th Street, Ozone Park—between
97th and 101st Avenues 46
Photo 2.3 Kitchen, 76th Street apartment—author’s mom is behind
him and his dad is behind his mom 50
Photo 2.4 Living room/dining room, 76th Street apartment 51
Photo 3.1 New microscope, Christmas gift—and the author
continues his love of science and looks on while a
relative tests a new telescope 83
Photo 5.1 Author after a concert in the mud in 1971—long hair, sex,
drugs, and rock and roll 152
Photo 5.2 Author’s confirmation, St. Sylvester,
sixth grade—author looking quite awkward
standing between two female classmates 156
xi