Melissa Billings

SOC 1010-404
Assignment #2

The question why does America have both the largest black middle
class and the largest black underclass in its history is a very complex
questions. One in which I think there are more questions than answers. I do
think, however, that we have some answers, at least enough to start making
a change as we try to figure out what the rest of the answers are.
I think that we can thank affirmative action, and definitely the Civil
Rights movement for the rise in the black middle class. Both of these
movements helped to open doors to black Americans that otherwise would
have remained closed. The ability to receive an Ivy League education,
employment, and the ability to work your way up in a company, were
abilities that were withheld from the black community before. With these
new opportunities available, the desire to improve their situation in life, and
a strong commitment to working hard, some black people were able to grab
a hold of those opportunities and rise out of poverty and into the middle
class. Once you are a member of the middle class it becomes easier for each
new generation to stay there.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. said, Today there is a gap between the black
middle and the black lower classes as wide as that between the black and
the white races. How has black America become two nations and what do we
do about it (The Two Nations of Black America)? With these opportunities
now available, why do we also have the largest black underclass, and so
many still living in poverty? The first problem, as I see it, is just like once you
are in the middle class it is easier to stay there, once you are in poverty it is
hard to get out of it. Although there are new opportunities for black
Americans because of the Civil Rights movement, because of a long standing
history of poverty, many black people may still think these opportunities are
out of their reach and not even attempt to achieve them. As was said in the
documentary, Civil Rights cannot solve the poverty problem (The Two
Nations of Black America).
Another major problem is, as Jesse Jackson put it, we have spent so
much time on the black/white analysis, and not enough time discussing the
black/black analysis. As much as we dont want to talk about race, we
definitely do not want to talk about class. That is the problem, we are finding
solutions to the racial decimation problem, but not to the class problem. The
divide between the upper and lower classes is widening, but it seems as if
there is an even greater divide in the black community. If you look at black
income today the top quintile has now secured almost 50% of the income. If
you just look at income level, inequality is bigger in the black community
(Wilson, The Two Nations of Black America). The American society is a

capitalist society. We value what we like to think of as the American Dream,

but not everybody can achieve the American dream. No matter how hard
they work, and how much they try, it is simply unattainable for some. If
everybody who tried could become wealthy, then out entire system would
fail. In our society it is necessary to have an upper and lower class. Our
current system could not function without it. As Kathleen Cleaver stated,
One thing that is important to understand is that the capitalist form of
democracyneeds people like us, needs a middle class to function smoothly.
It doesnt need equality, what it needs in inequality, There has never been
any interest of restructuring the economy for the benefit of the poor. Once
the Civil Rights had been addressed, the government was done with us
[black people] (The Two Nations of Black America). Our focus is still on race,
while we try to ignore the class problem. It may be that people are insecure
with their status in society that they are willing to ignore, or place blame, on
anything that they feel will upset the balance of their position. Maybe if we
let someone else in the middle class, they will take our place. There can only
be so many people on each rung of the economic ladder before that rung
break and everybody falls, or at least that is what we believe. Because of
this, as was stated in the documentary, problems that are class problems get
defined as race problems.
There is also what is referred to as the gangster mentality that is
prevalent among the black youth. The role model for many of these youths
are the gangster rappers. These rappers are poor role models. They

commit crimes, sometimes even murder, and use drugs. Not the role models
that anybody would want for their kids to have. Even professional athletes
can no longer be trusted to be good roles models as they were in the past.
The message that these kids are getting is that crime pays. You dont have to
work hard to get out of poverty, you just have to commit crimes. It is faster,
and takes much less effort. The fact that for most this only ends up with
lengthy jail sentences, does not seem to matter. Some of the black youth
today seem to embrace the gangster dream as opposed to the American
dream.

Works Cited
Two Nations of Black America. Prod. June Cross. Perf. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
N.p., n.d. Web. 31
Mar. 2016.