how this term is the modern way of being racist without being too explicit
Recently at a social gathering, I was talking with this guy about careers. I complimented the coffee he made me and said, “You have a profession if you want; that coffee is better than most cafes.” To which he answered, “I was a barista and liked making coffee, but I changed my profession to lawyer because I did not like dealing with ‘uneducated’ people.” That ick me. His tone clearly set him apart from common people. I’m not going to specify his ethnicity or background, but needless to say, it’s evident.
He was probably trying to sound superior and good in my eyes but had exactly the opposite effect. I didn’t engage anymore after that, but his word choice left me thinking. I’ve come across this word a few times in my life, and every time it has the same connotation. It’s someone trying to position themselves as better than another group. What is implied in ‘uneducated’ is not only a matter of manners but also race and background conditions. It’s designated to poor people, people at the margins, minorities with not much purchasing power. All in all, it’s an elitist and more polite way to be racist, the modern way, since directly attacking a marginalized class is no longer socially accepted; they have to be more subtle.
What does it mean to be educated? Someone who has a degree? I believe that’s what he was trying to convey. But a degree doesn’t mean anything. It can’t guarantee you’ll be a good person. Working in a law firm will not prevent you from encountering unethical people; you’ll probably be more exposed to them. Some of the worst people I’ve met had degrees (doctors in Brazil, I’m looking at you). Even a child raised by wolves has an education.
I think he means people who speak loudly, make a fuss, and are impolite. Customer service. We all know how it is. I’ve been there, dealt with all sorts of customers. But as a barista, I don’t believe you have to deal much with the public.
This word has been directed at me a few times. I do have a degree, but I don’t consider myself an educated person. I have basic manners, but I’ll never be accepted in a higher circle (whatever that means). I speak loudly. I use words that are considered uneducated. I chew too quickly. I laugh too expansively. All these manners that are taught from an early age in a private school, I lack.
When a parent pays an ‘out of this world’ fee for a private school for their kid, they’re not aiming for a better education curriculum-wise, but rather exposure to a circle and constant indoctrination of manners and ways of behaving: how to speak softly and calmly, which words never to use, how to eat, how to never say anything outside the norm. High society manners that will stick with you for the rest of your life and differentiate you from the common people. So you can call others ‘uneducated’.
I never get along with rich people. They don’t like me. It’s mutual. I don’t want to fit in. I want to say the most outrageous things. I want to laugh loudly. Be expansive. I am proud of my poor roots. No one will make me feel otherwise proud of it. Call me uneducated if you wish. I will not reclaim this word just because I believe it should be banned in the first place, or at least dissected to understand what it actually means when people use it.
P.S.1: I considered giving this guy some feedback and maybe trying to make him reflect, but I’m not here to educate anyone. He seems like a good person who is trying to get along and make friends, but the problem is bigger than just a word. I lack the patience to take him on a journey of expanding his horizons.
P.S.2: I read somewhere how Adele is rich, but British people can tell she did not have a good education by the way she speaks. If Adele can be considered uneducated, so can I.
P.S.3: At the end of the day, education and manners are just a way to maintain control over our society’s norms and repress us, just so society can function perfectly for capitalist and patriarchal reasons. If something is bothering you, be out there. Make a fuss. Forget manners and education. Be an animal. Be filthy. Be poor. Be low. Be the resistance.
P.S.4: A great movie on that subject: “Society” 1989 by Brian Yuzna.
