What evidence do authors Gerstel and Sarkisian give that social class is even more important than ethnicity in understanding differences among families? Why is this a critical distinction to the authors?

Read the essays “The Color of Family Ties: Race, Class, Gender, and Extended Family Involvement” (pp. 44-52) as well as
“Marriage Markets: How Inequality Is Remaking the American Family.” Then, answer the following questions below:
“The Color of Family Ties”
What evidence do authors Gerstel and Sarkisian give that social class is even more important than ethnicity in understanding differences among families? Why is this a critical distinction to the authors?
What examples of “extended family solidarities and caregiving activities” do the authors provide? How common or uncommon are these in your own family or community? Do your personal experiences tend to support, refute, or complicate the authors’ analysis?
What are some weaknesses within this essay that may invite skepticism or disbelief?
“Marriage Markets”
How could information and data about the “average” family be misleading? Explain why you agree or disagree with the authors’ basic assertion that to understand the changing American family we need to examine “the continuum from the top to the bottom of the American economy.”
The authors write that “a complete explanation of family change requires taking seriously the role of class in scripting or lives.” What does the metaphor of a script mean in this context? How free or constrained are our choices concerning partners, marriage, and child-rearing if we are somehow following a script? Explain thoroughly.

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