Being black and middle class doesn't mean you face less prejudice (The Guardian, 2011)

[YoungDemCA]

While this article is 4 years old and is specifically about the UK, it applies just as much to the American context.

What happens when you take the poverty out of racism? Much of what is written on race focuses on how it impacts on those suffering the sharpest inequality: unemployment, criminalisation, underachievement in school, poor housing. This has fed the view – commonly held by those on the left – that race is just a subset of class, and that those with decent education and jobs will experience little, if any, lingering inequality. But how do those "successful" minorities feel?

That's what a team at the Institute of Education have been researching, and their findings are released on Monday. Looking at African Caribbean families in particular, they have confirmed that there is a black "middle class"; that they work very hard to get the best for their children; but they also discovered that social status and relative wealth do not protect black people. "Racism is a reality in the lives of black middle-class families," states the report, The Educational Strategies of the Black Middle Classes. And research team member Dr Nicola Rollock, says: "Being black and middle class is fundamentally different to being white and middle class."

I understand what she means. Like many of those surveyed I would never call myself middle class, despite having a degree and a professional career. For me, middle class is a racially exclusive term in Britain: because it's not about wealth, or educational achievement, but about certain values that one has to adhere to. About living in the "right" area; following the "right" sports; attending the "right" theatres; sending your children to the "right" schools. And in all of these, the "right" is white.

snip:

As the report says: "White middle-class parents often presume an entitlement, both to a good education for their children and to educational success." Black middle-class parents do not, due to "their own negative experiences of school, the labour market and wider society on account of their race".

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/05/black-middle-class-prejudice

[leftofcool]

1. But, what about "trickle down" economics?

[bigtree]

2. quite true

...racism and discrimination are not remedied by a myopic focus on economics. Some solutions require an adherence to existing laws, like racial profiling in policing and police brutality, and others require the establishment of more legal protections, like voting rights.

There's also discrimination in hiring which isn't going to be solved by merely focusing on otherwise worthy causes like income equality and raising the minimum wage. There are issues with access to higher education as well (with the dismantling of most affirmative action regs) as there are disparities in primary education, as well.

Good article.

[Person 2713]

3. When you are breaking stereotypes you can face more not less

[pnwmom]

4. It's a lesson Bernie still needs to learn. It isn't just "pandering" to speak to this issue. n/t