Wealth discrimination gets rational basis review under Equal Protection Clause analysis in this country (I think Rodriguez from Con Law may have been the worst thing to happen to progressivism in this country in the last forty years). To say that a law disparately impacts the poor just seems to be an uninteresting argument to our courts and even ourselves.

It could be the byproduct of the American Dream - perhaps a sentiment that your class is your fault, an entirely mutable interest that can be shed with a little hard work. Maybe it's just Cold War scars and fear of socialist talk. Of course, concern for the oppression of the poor does not require that one is a pure socialist. But many think it does. Maybe it's just faux pas.

When I discussed the example of the speaker, I didn't mean to suggest that it's the fault of community leaders that we don't point to the oppression of the poor as a core issue. It's something much greater than any one person. But I do believe we can reintroduce it into conversations regarding legal or political or social discrimination in America.

And I think we'd be better off for it. Race, class, gender and sexual orientation all influence one's social standing in America. I wish we'd cover them all!