class and race

Driving back from a trip down to see my nephew in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Sasha and I got into a discussion on class in American society, and how we both felt it was much more important than race, but much less discussed. I asserted this was possibly due to the Red Scare, and the fact that descriptions of society which were based on class were still thrown into the Marxist=communist=wrong bin. Sasha asserted the difficulty was that America from the start has considered itself a 'classless' society, and hence departing from that view is difficult. Any thoughts out there, on any of these ideas?

Interestingly, as I first read this, I was watching a Sex and the City episode entitled "The Caste System" in which the theme was dating ourside our class. And I quote "You want to pretend we live in a class-less society, but we don't" says Charlotte as she nods toward the four women performing the group of girls' pedicures. We live in a very classist society... and Ann Arbor is a great example of it.