Classism, as a concept, is incredibly confusing. Classism is defined as treating someone differently and lowering their value in society because of their social or economic class. It’s one of the reasons we have the 8th amendment, which is the right to be protected against cruel and unusual punishment or excessive fine/bails. But I’m not sure if this amendment is truly fair in the way it is used.

First of all, when you don’t pay a fine the court simply makes the fine higher and higher until you pay. Which doesn’t make sense because if you can’t pay the first fine, then upping the amount owed probably won’t help. Eventually, if you still don’t pay your fine, you have to go to jail. I don’t think the court thinks about how hard it is for people who are broke. For example, if I’m a poor woman and I get fined and don’t pay for it then I can be forced to pay much more than the original fine or be sent to jail, but if I’m a rich woman and get fined for the same thing, I can easily pay for it and live my life. 

I believe this is unconstitutional because of the 8th and 14th amendments. The 8th amendment states that you have the right to be protected from unusual or cruel fines. But, people are still going to jail just because they are too poor to pay the fine. This is a cruel and unusual punishment. One part of the 14th amendment says, “nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”  The key part is “equal protection of the laws” . Equal protection should work for both poor and rich people. So again I am confused about how classism is allowed to happen in our justice system. 

Classism is also happening in our school systems. I recently learned that schools in richer areas get more funding while schools in poorer areas get very little funding. This makes it so the schools in need don’t get help. If you live in a “bad” neighborhood, your school will not have enough funding. I believe because of this the teaching could also be getting affected negatively. On the other hand, the richer schools already have everything they need and more. Schools that actually need support and money are not getting it. That is classism. Just because someone goes to a poorer school does not mean that they don’t deserve a fair education. This confuses me on why this is allowed? And why aren’t we stopping it? In conclusion, classism confuses me.