Although one of my classes decided not to study class-based intercultural competency for a research project, I am still very intrigued by the subject. I come from an upper-middle, or even upper class background depending on where you draw the line. More than anything else—even my white race and my male gender—my social class has got me to be where I am today. For example, I was quickly able to find an excellent economics tutor when my AP exam preparation was hitting the rocks. I have been able to enrich my cultural understanding through travel to New Zealand, Costa Rica, and dozens of other interesting places. I never had financial stress aside from that which I put on myself to save up my “allowance” for something cool down the road.
At the same time, my family never pushed my social class on me or my peers. I never really felt entitled to a certain privilege, we just enjoyed living in my family. It was not until I came to Rhodes, and being surrounded by a vast majority of my socioeconomic peers, did I realize how many friends of middle or lower class I grew up around. 
Most weren’t poor by any means, but I never really appreciated my privilege until I met so many people with similar opportunities and experiences like mine. I also met a few people at Rhodes who were astonished at my opportunities and experienced. They wanted to live vicariously through my adventures, yet I always felt bad telling them about what I was up to. The ability to fly home for breaks, for instance, would never even cross the mind of some of my friends here at Rhodes. I almost always feel bad about my economic privilege because the class divide at Rhodes is so deep.
I am not totally certain what makes Rhodes different from my high school. Perhaps it is because Rhodes is less diverse than my public high school of 2400 students of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. 40% of my high school were considered lower class; that is enough to have a voice and they definitely did. At Rhodes, the college is so embarrassed that it does not even publish the numbers to its “Profile of the Entering Class” web page. Classism, especially silent classism is too present at Rhodes, yet I do not know what to do about it. I want the lower income students on campus to have a voice, especially one that would speak louder than mine for I certainly cannot attest to their experiences. What I can do is to advance my conscious awareness to their oppression on campus. I can raise the issue and then give them the floor. If I am truly seeking intercultural competency, then I must be willing and able to tell my story, but just as importantly to listen and to learn from the story of my peers that come from different socioeconomic background. For the time being, here are a few classist microaggressions I find myself and others at the college committing all too frequently against persons of lower socioeconomic classes.
- Want to go to Mulan again on Friday? It is nice to go off campus every now and then for meals, but making the options week in and week out fairly expensive places can put a financial burden on lower class students who feel the social burden to join their friends.
- Putting expensive brands on our t-shirts. Not only is this free advertising for companies who offer $300 purses for $125 polo shirts, lower class students feel isolated and embarrassed when they do not understand why the logo was selected.
- I never used to clean back home. College is a very space intensive community, especially the dorms. Students who refuse to clean on the grounds that they always had a housekeeper growing up both disrespect the community and imply that it is the obligation of lower class students or staff to pick up after them.
Reflections of an Urbanist 