When we mourn for people whose lives are "destroyed" by a social media kerfuffle around a recorded incident of racism, we often ignore how much the life that they enjoyed was one built around satisfaction of a number of class requirements.

You don't lose a job bagging groceries, working in a cafeteria, or doing construction for a racist tweet, and if you did, you could find another without many questions. What people lose are jobs based on class prerogatives: publicist, investment analyst, etc.

These class-based jobs have other requirements: going to the right schools, talking the right way, they prefer people from certain races, religions, social backgrounds, and relationship structures. It's always been possible to lose class based jobs based on violation of norms.

In past getting divorced, being gay, going bankrupt or any number of violations of social norms could end your access to cushy jobs. I don't agree with those kinds of social policing, but if we're going to have qualities we select for in offering our most advantageous jobs...

I think "doesn't threaten the life of a man based on his race" is a much better choice than "wears the right shoes" or "knows how to ski".