Summary Of Mike Rose's Blue-Collar Brilliance

There is a stigma against blue-collar workers. To some, they are seen as ‘lesser’. There are those who see them as less intelligent, less driven, less fortunate. They are ‘less intelligent’ because they did not pursue higher education, and therefore, cannot possibly be as smart as those who have. They are ‘less driven’ also because they did not go to college. Maybe they began work straight out of highschool, maybe they couldn’t actually finish; because of this they are ‘stuck’ in lower paying positions, and ‘stuck’ in a lower class of living. They are ‘less fortunate’ because maybe they didn’t have the money to attend a four year university, and are now working a labor-intensive job that perhaps doesn’t support a life seated in the lap of luxury. …show more content…
His mother quit school in seventh grade, but this did not mean she was less driven than the other kids, or less qualified. She dropped out to help raise her brothers and sisters. In mentioning why she left school, Rose is pulling the reader in further by gripping onto our emotions. He doesn’t give us a second to think that his mother dropped out of school because she wasn’t good enough. We feel for Rosie instead, because she had no other choice. Though, leaving school did not make his mother any less of a scholar. Rose mentions that his mother became intrigued by psychology and human behavior while working. “The restaurant became the place where she studied human behavior, puzzling over the problems of her regular customers and refining her ability to deal with people in a difficult world” …show more content…
Thus, looking at blue-collar workers as being less intelligent, or even below themselves. In Sean McGarvey’s article “Why The Disdain For American Blue-Collar Workers” he says: “Americans… are developing an unsettling tendency to make sweeping assessments of people’s intelligence, as well as their overall worthiness as human beings, based upon the kind of work they do” (McGarvey). McGarvey goes on to explain that this could lead to a toxic system where the only voices that are ever heard are those who are seen as worthy enough to be speaking. This is a very valid point to be made and listened to, considering the fact that this is already happening on a smaller scale. I.e, people believing that blue-collar workers are unintelligent, and deciding for themselves that their thoughts and opinions are not worth listening

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Summary Of Blue Collar Brilliance By Mike Rose