They place value on toughness, being 'bad,' and physical prowess, effectively creating a counterculture that 'proves' to middle class observers, who see individual action and miss structural oppression, that they are lazy and worthless. The Brothers, on the other hand, internalize the achievement ideology, sincerely believing that if they work hard enough, they will ascend to middle class status. Their respective experiences of race, class, and gender come together to influence their attitudes. They use issues of race, class, and gender to legitimate their actions. Affirmative action, according to the Hallway Hangers, has worked to create black favoritism in school and in the workplace.
Reverse discrimination makes it harder for whites to get and keep jobs.
Citing the supposed advantages of black people, the Hallway Hangers assert that they do not have equal access to achievement in the forms of good grades and jobs. A second way in which race comes into play in the Hallway Hangers' attitudes and behavior also involves gender. Seeing black men as advantaged economically, they take out their anger at the system on the black men, thereby proving their masculinity in the form of physical prowess. Issues of class contribute a third influence on the Hallway Hangers' rejection of the achievement ideology. They find that they are tracked in school to do poorly, and that prospective employers are aware of their class background and think twice about hiring them.