As the title of the book suggests, Annette Lareau in Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life (2011) argues that the influences of social class and race result in “unequal childhoods.” Why are they unequal? How is this inequality produced? In her study, which status (race or class) does she argue is more influential? Discuss why she comes to this conclusion.

This assignment is worth 50 points. The basic goals of this assignment are threefold: to challenge you (1) to explore the course material in various ways (outside of lecture/commentary); (2) to explore the ways in which social class and race shape family life; and (3) to work on communicating your ideas and your understanding of the lesson material in ways beyond simple memorization.

Beyond this, the assignment is meant to encourage you to recognize how race and social class shape family life, and in turn, how family life results in and reproduces class and race inequalities. Lareau provides specific examples demonstrating how social class influences everyday realities such as language, confidence, interacting with adults, and so on. You should be able to draw effectively on these examples in making your argument.

As with all papers for this course, your assignment should adhere to the following guidelines:

approximately 2 pages in length (can be about 15 lines less than or 5 lines more than 2 pages), with as much as 10 lines allowed for header and title lines before the body of your main text begins
single-spaced, without formatting that adds extra space after each line, and with a single blank space before each additional paragraph and at least one single blank space before and after any title to your paper
1″ margins
12-point font
single spacing for references at the end of the paper, with a single space before each additional reference
Your writing will be evaluated for the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your response, and you should proofread your assignment for grammatical accuracy.