Class has to do with money. Race, well, that's something else. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the links between race and class. Insight from a family of black workers, an Arab-American woman, and a man people called "white trash." Also, why Michael Jordan's income doesn't boost him into the American upper class.

SEGMENT 1

Sociologist Thomas Shapiro of Northeastern University tells Steve Paulson that Black Americans don't have the same non-income assets as white families and are much less economically secure even when they have comparable salaries. Shapiro is the co-author (with Melvin Oliver) of "Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality." Also, Matt Wray and Annalee Newitz, editors of "White Trash: Race and Class in America," tell Steve Paulson that most of the stereotypes regarding poor whites are false; explain the appeal to the poor of apocalyptic religions; and decribe the relationship between poverty and racism.

SEGMENT 2:

Joanna Kadi describes herself as a working class half- breed Arab-American. She is also a writer and musician, grassroots organizer, sometimes college teacher and author of "Thinking Class: Sketches from a Cultural Worker." She tells Judith Strasser about growing up in a company town where class distinctions were clear even to the gradeschoolers, and how class privilege leaves some minority young people unprepared for the racism they encounter. Also, Deborah McDowell is a Black intellectual with working class roots. In her book "Leaving Pipe Shop: Memories of Kin" and in this conversation with Jim Fleming, she remembers the working class Black community in Bessemer, Alabama where she was raised.

SEGMENT 3:

Historian Gerda Lerner thinks class should not be defined by economic status alone. She tells Judith Strasser that throughout history, class and gender have been inextricably linked. Lerner is emeritus professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the author of "Why History Matters."

Distribution dates:

• week of 05/25/97 - hour 1
• week of 07/12/98 - hour 1