People like us social class in America
(Video DVD)

Originally produced and aired as a documentary on PBS in September 2001

Teacher's guide: People like us : social class in America / by Lora Myers ; contributing editors Julie Hey, Alicia Ellis ... [et al.]. Includes introduction, program outline, pre-viewing activities, post-viewing discussion and activities, segment-related quesitons and activities, theme-based activities, appendix with bibliographical references

Extras: [Deleted scenes] Trouble in paradise (3 min.); You are your stuff (3 min.); Belles, belles, belles (4 min.); More WASP lessons (2 min.); Filmmakers' bios [text feature]

Co-produced and edited by Peter Odabashian ; camera, Stephen McCarthy, Jefferson Miller ... [et al.] ; website design, Picture Projects

Narrator, Rudy Cheeks; commentators include R. Couri Hay, David Patrick Columbia, Barbara Ehrenreich, Joe Queenan, Dan Rodricks, Levi Sanders, Tom Smith, David Brooks, Bill Bear, Kenyatta Birges, Ginie Polo Sayles, Vessa Rinehart, Paul Fussell, Carlotta Miles, Michael Monte, Thomas Langhorne Phipps, Eleanor Weller, Benilde Little, Debbie Gibbs, Wayne Brown, Lawrence Otis Graham, Barbara Brannen, Valerie Lancaster Beal, "L-Bow" Tidwell, Stanley Crouch, Matt Heid, Tammy Crabtree, Dan Rodricks, Pat Gulden, John Dilulio, Bryon Smith, Kelly Conway, Tex Andrews, Marilyn Knisley, Kelley Hammers, Andrew Porter, Michael Birdwell, Steven Gaines, Curtis Powell, Dave Williams

How do income, family background, education, attitudes, aspirations, and even appearance mark someone as a member of a particular social class? In travels across the U.S. in interviews with people from diverse socioeconomic groups, this film examines how social class in America has as much influence as race or ethnicity in determining what kind of opportunities a person has in life. Discusses how social class plays a role in the lives of all Americans, whether they live in Park Avenue penthouses, Appalachian trailer parks, bayou houseboats, or suburban gated communities, and presents stories of family traditions, class mobility, and different lifestyle choices. The final segment uses Anderson High School in Austin, Texas as a microcosmic example of the social segmentation that extends throughout the macro level

Additional resources, including trailer, additional scenes, teacher's guide (complete text) and bibliography available online at the PBS website ; transcript available online at the Center for New American Media website

DVD