What's with the double standard re: the Black Middle Class?

[El Coupeacabra]

80% of America is a couple of checks from going broke. Politicians don't bring up these issues every damn debate for nothing.

I'm not necessarily refuting that.

But breh said that if you can't take off a few months that you're not middle class

I would say 99% of folks would be hurting if they didn't get paid for a few months

 

[invalid]

Also just wanted to shout out to all black middle class Brooklyn. Canarsie, Flatlands, the black part of Mill Basin, and East Flatbush. We winning yall.

My fam live in Queens.

 

[Alvin]

Also just wanted to shout out to all black middle class Brooklyn. Canarsie, Flatlands, the black part of Mill Basin, and East Flatbush. We winning yall.

park slope still majority black and latino?

 

[Alvin]

too black for the white kids and too white for the blacks - earl sweatshirt

this pretty much sums up what it's like being black middle to upper class tbh

 

[Barlow]

I'm not necessarily refuting that.

But breh said that if you can't take off a few months that you're not middle class

I would say 99% of folks would be hurting if they didn't get paid for a few months

Middle class white people take breaks all the time and aren’t rich. They will constantly talk about it.

You know how they can do that? Because they’re actually middle class and have wealth.

What is about not being called middle class that offends you exactly? You don’t get to feel superior or unique?

 

[Rawtid]

I’m middle class and the line is definitely more pronounced as you desire and acquire more for yourself. You’re empathetic, but not trying to be a victim of circumstance either.

 

[datnigDASTARDLY]

There is a difference between middle class and middle income.

You can have middle income but still be oriented to the working or under class.

Similarly, you can have low income and be oriented to the middle and upper classes.

Class is partly about income but so much more in terms of a worldview/outlook, habits, customs, socialization, etc.

It’s not black and white like most Americans think.

I personally think that most black people fall somewhere near being middle income but oriented towards the working class.

This is a perfect description

In this day and age the amount of money means nothing unless your legitametely wealthy. And the wealthy have run the boards to such a degree that any income bracket other than theirs will struggle if their **class doesn't match their **income.

Them rich cacs played chess while we all played checkers brehs

 

[Tommy Knocks]

I'm not necessarily refuting that.

But breh said that if you can't take off a few months that you're not middle class

I would say 99% of folks would be hurting if they didn't get paid for a few months

Yea that's crazy.

 

[filial_piety]

Grew up middle class. Idk why we get some much hate.

Same here. For some odd reason there are some blacks who are so offended by blacks who are and identify as “middle class” that they try to redefine what they “really are” (ie calling them working class) in an attempt to knock them down a notch.

It’s just another way of trying to call folks “uppity” in an effort to bring them down a notch or two

 

[filial_piety]

Outside of Vanderveer (Flatbush Gardens) and it's surroundings, the whole 90s and a couple odd blocks here and there in the 50s E. Flatbush for the most part is pretty tame.

East Flatbush by NYPD standards was an “impact zone” around the East 90s and 50s. It’s probably around the worst 5 hoods in ny

 

[Neuromancer]

You could have been raised in Brownsville and turned out alright lol

I wish this was true for my fam raised up the hill.

 

[Shadow King]

This comes from aligning blackness with poverty/struggle.

The term "middle class" is BS, regardless of race. You're not middle class if you have to go to work, otherwise you'll be homeless in a few months. We have all been lied to about being middle class, to make us feel better about where we are in society, but with the way the economy has been going the pst 20 years, most people are now aware that we've been duped.

Most black people are working class. I experienced it for at hand. Before my dad got sick, we were doing great. After he got sick and had to take an early retirement, things went to shyt. Most would have called us middle class, but one event took us down to working class.

And that's just one part of the problem. The other part is that too often blackness is tied to struggling and poverty. We saw this with the TV shows back in the day. People acted like the Cosby Show was unrealistic, because they didn't know any blacks who lived like that. We also saw in shows like Fresh Prince, where Will was considered blacker than Carlton, because of their difference in social class and culture.

I can't really agree with the bolded but the rest is facts.

 

[Cadillac]

.

It’s not black and white like most Americans think.

I personally think that most black people fall somewhere near being middle income but oriented towards the working class.

same with me, alot of black people i know are like this

 

[BaldingSoHard]

As a middle to upper-middle class breh, I can vouch for this.

It can be a weird place to navigate as a breh, because those with less wealth tend to immediately disregard our insights and experiences as unrealistic or an outlier (which, statistically speaking, they may be, but that doesn't mean one can't learn from another's experience).

 

[Rawtid]

There is a difference between middle class and middle income.

You can have middle income but still be oriented to the working or under class.

Similarly, you can have low income and be oriented to the middle and upper classes.

Class is partly about income but so much more in terms of a worldview/outlook, habits, customs, socialization, etc.

It’s not black and white like most Americans think.

I personally think that most black people fall somewhere near being middle income but oriented towards the working class.

Great post! With this explanation, I’m definitely more middle income than middle class.