Is Classism Better than Racism?

As a response to the horrors of hurricane Katrina, Bon Jovi teamed up with Oprah to build a new neighborhood in Houma, Louisiana.

A few weeks ago I was watching an episode of Oprah. The show was following up on a project with Oprah’s Angel Network and rock band Bon Jovi. In the heartwarming show, the audience saw the joy of families, who had been displaced, homeless, and uprooted by the tragedy, move into beautiful new homes. Jon Bon Jovi was on hand to personally deliver door keys to the anxiously waiting new residents of Bon Jovi Boulevard. The collective spirit of the bands generosity (a donation of $1 million) and the appreciation and euphoria of the Katrina victims was touching and moving to all that watched. A true testament to the humanity we can all draw on in times of great need.

However, back in the studio, Jon Bon Jovi made some remarks that have perplexed and concerned me ever since. In describing the significance of the project, Jon Bon Jovi said that it showed that Katrina was not an issue of race but an issue of class. The hurricane itself caused indescribable destruction and devastation to thousands of people. However, we cannot predict natural disasters, and natural disasters do not select their victims with any particular demographics in mind. The same unfortunately cannot be said of the government’s response to the tragedy.

I will not belabor the catalogue of racially motivated injustices that further victimized the residents struck by Katrina. However, I do want to question Bon Jovi’s analysis. Why would he explicitly make such remarks in the context of an uplifting, non-political, feel-good Oprah show? Interestingly, his comments are not recorded on the show's link on Oprah's website.

But if we agree with his surmising, what does it really mean? Do we have a hierarchy of isms? Is it acceptable to discriminate across class lines but not racial ones? Can we go on mistreating people because they are poor but not if they’re black? Are we, in 2006, still unaware of the inextricable connection between class discrimination and racism? And just so we know, where do sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination lie on this ranking scale of prejudice? And if racism is, as Bon Jovi suggests, the prejudice that is so unacceptable as to be a national taboo, why is so little being done about it? Are they going to build a center for race or class relations on Bon Jovi Boulevard?

Time will tell. But in the meantime, tell me what your thoughts are.