Reclaiming Class: Women, Poverty, and the Promise of Higher Education in America

281 Pages·2003·28.11 MB·English

by  Vivyan Campbell Adair (ed.)

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e c a I m I n g
CLAS---~
Reclaiming Class
Women, Poverty, and the Promise of
Higher Education in America
CopyrightedMaterial
In theseries
TEACHING/LEARNING SOCIAL JUSTICE
editedby LeeAnne Bell
CopyrightedMaterial
ReclaiIning
Class
Women, Poverty, and the
Promise ofHigher Education
in America
Edited by
c.
VIVYAN ADAIR AND
SANDRA L. DAHLBERG
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Philadelphia
CopyrightedMaterial
TempleUniversityPress,Philadelphia19122
Copyright©2003byTempleUniversity
Allrightsreserved
Published2003
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
e
ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstherequirementsoftheAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciences-PermanenceofPaperforPrinted
LibraryMaterials,ANSI239.48-1984
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Reclaimingclass:women,poverty,and thepromiseofhighereducationin
America / editedbyVivyanC.AdairandSandraL.Dahlberg.
p. cm. - (Teaching/learningsocialjustice)
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN1-59213-021-6(cloth:alk.paper) - ISBN1-59213-022-4(pbk.:aIk.
paper)
1. Poorwomen-UnitedStates. 2. Poorwomen-Education(Higher)
UnitedStates. 3. Poorsinglemothers-UnitedStates. 4. Welfarerecip
ients-UnitedStates. 5. Womencollegestudents-UnitedStates. 1. Adair,
VivyanCampbell. II. Dahlberg,SandraL.,1958-- III. Series.
HVl445.R432003
378.1'9826'942-<ic21 2002035274
CopyrightedMaterial
This book is dedicated to those whose lives speak daily
to the contradictions ofAmerican meritocracy
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: ReclaimingClass:Women, Poverty,
and the PromiseofHigherEducation
inAmerica
VIVYAN C. ADAIR ANDSANDRAL. DAHLBERG 1
Speech Pathology: TheDefloweringofanAccent
21
LAURASULLIVAN-HACKLEY
1.
EDUCATORS REMEMBER
1 Disciplinedand Punished: PoorWomen,
BodilyInscription, and Resistance
throughEducation
VIVYAN C. ADAIR 25
2 AcademicConstructionsof"WhiteTrash," or
How to InsultPoorPeoplewithout ReallyTrying
53
NELLSULLIVAN
3 Survivalina NotSo BraveNew World
SANDRAL. DAHLBERG 67
4 ToBeYoung, Pregnant, and Black: MyLife
asa WelfareCoed
JOYCELYNK. MOODY 85
5 IfYou WantMe to PullMyselfUp, Give Me
Bootstraps
LISAK. WALDNER 97
vii
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viii CONTENTS
II. ON THE FRONT LINES
6 lfISurvive,ItWill Be DespiteWelfare Reform:
Reflections ofa FormerWelfareStudent
113
TONYA MITCHELL
7 Not By MyselfAlone: Upward Bound with
Familyand Friends
119
DEBORAH MEGIVERN
8 Choosing the LesserEvil:The Violenceofthe
WelfareStereotype
131
ANDREAS. HARRIS
9 FromWelfare toAcademe: WelfareReform as
College-Educated WelfareMothers KnowIt
139
SANDYSMITH MADSEN
10 SevenYearsinExile
157
LETICIAALMANZA
III.
POLICY, RESEARCH, AND POOR WOMEN
11 FamiliesFirst-butNotinHigherEducation:
Poor, IndependentStudentsand the Impactof
FinancialAid
SANDRA L. DAHLBERG 169
12 The Leper Keepers: Front-Line Workers and the
Key to Educationfor PoorWomen
JUDITH OWENS-MANLEY 196
13 "That'sWhy I'm onProzac": Battered Women,
Traumatic Stress, and Educationin the
ContextofWelfareReform
LiSA D. BRUSH 215
14 Fulfilling the PromiseofHigher Education
VIVYAN C. ADAIR 240
About theContributors 267
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Acknowledgments
WETHANKLeeAnne BellandTempleUniversityPressandour
friends and colleagues at Hamilton College and the University of
Houston-Downtown for their encouragement and support. Most im
portant, we thank our families-especially Heather, Geryl, and Bob
Adair, Ronnie Johnston, Rebekah Lockner, and Sean Lockner-who
made this journeywith us.
ix
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