Olivia Steely

English 102

Summary Essay

January 26, 2016

Working Class Hero

            Author and professor Mike Rose states,“Like anyone who is effective at physical work, my mother learned to work smart, as she put it, to make every move count” (245).  This quote is a reflection of Rose’s childhood memories regarding his mother’s work ethic.  In his article “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” Rose explains that his mother, Rosie, owned a restaurant when he was growing up.  His mother and her restaurant strongly impacted his thoughts on blue-collar workers:  that is, working class citizens.  Through his experiences, Rose began to understand the work requirements and ethics of blue-collar workers.  He became so curious that he decided to share his discoveries.  Rose asserts that intelligence should not be associated with formal education, culture should not separate the body from the mind, and negative connotations regarding blue-collar workers will negatively affect the future.

          The essence of Rose’s argument is that formal education is equivalent to intelligence, and that such an opinion tends to be a closed-minded view of the working class.  Rose includes the example of his uncle who went to work for the railroad after the ninth grade and, through this, subsequently learned numerous skills, such as business management and using mental and physical resources efficiently.  Rose includes this story to corroborate his point that just because one is part of the working class, the job does not imply lack of learning or skill.  Rose claims, “Although writers and scholars have often looked at the working class, they have generally focused on the values such workers exhibit rather than on the thought their work requires” (247).  Rose believes that there is more thought and intelligence that goes into the work besides the classic working class values.  Basically, Rose is warning that the opinion of hard work being synonymous with intelligence is a pervasive omission.  

           Thus, Rose points out, culture should not separate the mind from the body; he says that since society separates these two factors, people assume that physical work does not involve intellect.  Rose also acknowledges the stereotypes that come along with being a blue or white-collar worker by reporting that, “given the ridicule heaped on the blue-collar speech, it might seem odd to value its cognitive value” (252).  However, he enters immediately into explaining the extensive learning that is required for the working class.  Rose’s point is that assumptions regarding the lack of mind and body collaboration should cease because, as one looks deeper, the assumptions are incorrect.

           Last but not least, Rose announces that the negative connotations surrounding blue-collar workers negatively affects the future of the workforce.  He justifies that even though many working class jobs do not necessarily require formal education many other skills are integral to success.  Rose also claims that the ignorance surrounding this fact brings heavy, negative effects on the workforce and the future by writing, “If we believe everyday work to be mindless, then that will affect the work we create in the future.  When we devalue the full range of everyday cognition, we offer limited educational opportunities and fail to make fresh and meaningful instructional connections among disparate kinds of skill and knowledge” (254).  In making this comment, Rose is urging society to stop stereotyping the working class because by doing so, people are actually reinforcing separation and impeding the ability to transcend cultural binds.  In the end, Rose warns of the possible effects of entertaining negative thoughts about blue-collar workers.  

              In conclusion, Mike Rose, author of “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” suggests that intellect should not be synonymous with formal instruction, society should not detach the body from the mind, and negative assumptions regarding the working class will harm the future.  Along with Rose’s mother and uncle, there are many other blue-collar workers in the world who take their jobs and learn more than what is expected by the rest of society.  One can see the admiration Rose has for his mother’s work ethic, and Rose sheds light on the hidden aspects of blue-collar life that he thinks makes every citizen a working class hero.