African American Middle Class Research Paper

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The African American Middle Class Darnell Baker Cultural Anthropology - 101 Instructor – Todd Menzing December 21, 2008 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Middle Class African Americans 4 An Overview of the Black Middle Class 5 Income and Employment Variables 6 Common African American Household Structure 6 Public Identities And Boundaries 7 References 9 Middle class African Americans are often underrepresented as the true face of Black America and although they are more than likely the type of African American most encountered by whites and other ethnic groups in America and abroad, are often ignored as a group warranting study by most cultural anthropologists since they are seen as seemingly having overcome…show more content…
One of the main reasons for this is that in the context of black social stratification, media and research has focused mainly on black poor, much of the research and media attention on African Americans detail that “middle-class African Americans do not perform as well as whites on standardized tests (in school or in employment), are more likely to be incarcerated for drug offenses; are less likely to marry, and more likely to have a child without being married, and are less likely to be working (Lacy, 2008)”. The flip side to this are the high profile African Americans who are celebrities and athletes who live exceptional and privileged lives by anyone’s , black or white, standards but who are often seen as examples that all blacks have “made it” and that racial issues are something of the past. Rarely is anything positive ever reported about the lives of the majority of African Americans, many of whom hold down regular jobs as well as raise families and live mainstream lives, albeit at a seemingly lower quality than their white…show more content…
Prior to the 1960s, because of racial discrimination, segregation, and the fact that most blacks lived in the rural South, African Americans experienced limited opportunities due to the harsh laws present at that time. The common assumption of the 1970s and 1980s was that upwardly mobile African Americans were quietly integrating formerly all-white occupations, businesses, neighborhoods, and social clubs. Black middle- and working-class families were moving out of all-black urban neighborhoods and into the suburbs (Patillo,
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