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

[Benefited]

They hate you because they are field slaves living under worst conditions, and you are house nikkas. Not realizing in the grandscheme both of you are still slaves working for free. Natureboy said it best "The people printing the money don't need the money,they need control,they need your ENERGY".


Break the spell black man

.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

So what are we saying then? If you're black middle class, you ain't black? Only if you come from the absolute bottom, then you're black?

I'm getting conflicting opinions in this thread.

 

[Eternally Jaded]

I'd imagine the black middle class is a misnomer in the sense that the fragility of the group is too real vs the wistfulness of the reality.

Ie, as someone else said, the white middle class is much more entrenched against societal upheaval vs us.

I know many people who technically could be considered to have grown up middle class, but the children of those homes are likely to end up squarely back in the working class or outright poor.

Shyt is rugged out here, and nobody is gonna feel the rigors of the road than the barefoot.

People who's grandparents came here poor, became working class and whose children then climbed to middle class, only to have the third generation slide right back down the hill, due to economic strangulation.

Rough world out there.

 

[The Fade]

I respect my hood brehs and pay homage cause y’all created America’s culture


But you calling me corny and lame cause I’m middle class is hilarious. I never wanted to be a cool nikka

 

[MR. SNIFLES]

SO TRUE.

 

[Nigerianwonder]

Personal definition:

Working Class - you're gonna be strapped for cash no matter how frugal you are. Being good with money allows you to survive and keep your head above water but you simply don't make enough to go beyond that.

Middle Class - you have enough money to be comfortable but your long-term prospects are dependent on how you manage money. You can skip multiple paychecks but it would require you to drain your savings and use your credit cards. This is the kind of person that could be set for life with a little cash infusion.

Upper Middle Class - you can buy nice homes, cars etc., and still have enough money to save and invest. Getting in financial trouble requires a lot more effort in this zone unless you needed to take on heavy student debt to get here. A lot of STEM people and even some tradesman are in this class. Plenty of disposable income for vacation trips, saving money and eating out. Probably only run up your credit card when paying for a vacation and then pay it off almost immediately.

Rich - a very lucrative profession. You don't really have to work once you've hit a certain point and can retire at a relatively early age as long as you don't make crazy/dumb life decisions. You basically live a very similar existence to the Upper Middle Class person but with nicer toys. Instead of the Lexus RX 350 or Tesla 3, you might spring for a Mercedes S63, BMW 5-series up to an Audi R8 or a McLaren 570.

Wealthy - your money makes money and you can afford to employ rich people. This is the kind of person that can buy a private jet, yacht etc., and not even hesitate. Upper middle class & Rich people show off by going on fancy trips or purchasing exotic rides. The wealthy show off by purchasing politicians, an NFL team or a TV network.

I don't agree with middle class, upper middle and rich definitions.

Middle class to me means you have or can have an asset or two like your primary residence and 401k. but not much significant outside of that.

Upper middle means you have significant assets outside your primary residence. So you own your home and have a rental property or something as well that you own. Significant stock holdings etc.

Rich means you have significant revenue generating assets. You dont have to work when your rich. You just have make sure you dont lose your assets or they dont decline in value.

Wealthy to me is when your money isn't directly tied to just revenue generating assets and companies. When your money is tied to controlling industries(farming/ banking), owning lots of land in urban metro areas, historic artwork, museums, sports teams and things like that. A company can go out of business anytime but a van gogh painting is always gonna be a van gogh and appreciate in value.

 

[dark_magic]

I’ve read that black middle class or just prosperous black Americans tend to slide back to working class at much higher rates than others. I wonder what the cause is outside of racism. Or the levers of racism in this instance.

My opinion:

The reason for the black middle class sliding back to working class at high rates is due to lack of control over financial capital.
Couple the above with purchasing liabilities rather than (cash flowing) assets and you have regression.

But, the aforementioned could be said for anyone who back slides.

 

[saturn7]

Well this is the difference between Middle and Upper-Middle no?

I'm in DFW and me and my BM will pull close to 90k combined. We're defo not rich and yeah if one of us became unable to work it'd probably cost us one of the cars but I wouldn't say we'd be in the hood. With just my income in a $800/mo hood spot we'd be hoodrich



IMO we have to ignore all the gloom and doom shyt just like we should have ignored the "GO TO COLLEGE!!....for what? Anything! Just go!" that was floated all throughout my childhood.

Our problem is that we spend all this time trying to avoid the Black apocalypse (which keeps changing. First it was Racism, then Heroin, then Hip Hop, then Gangs, then Crack, then the War on Drugs, then the Recession, and now Trump, and soon to be Student loans) without realizing that shyt continues forever....so go get a job and get paid and stop trying to fight the boogeyman that the media invented

I like this vid because it addresses the illusion of the black middle class. People think having a good income doesn't means middle class but when we look at actual Wealth numbers between blacks and whites (even with the same incomes) that doesn't hold up. The white "middle class" has access to more wealth and savings. They can afford to be off of work for months or years at a time. If "middle class" black folks lose a job like you mentioned they would most like have to downsize.

 

[JLova]

My wife and I catch all types of hate from her family simply for working our way up to middle class. It affects her sometimes....but not me cause I know we ain't doing nothing that they can't do. I'll never feel ashamed for wanting and achieving an "Above average" life for my wife and daughter and I.

I never understood shytting on people who are successful. That part of our community makes no sense and does more damage than we realize. I will wear that uppitty, boogie label like a badge of honour if it means that I did well for myself. LOL @ being ashamed of that.

 

[IsThatBrothaMouzone?]

keep in mind black upper middle class is different than upper middle class
i'm also upper middle class but my life was different than my non black peers

A lot of white upper middle class people were born into that zone.

If you make $125k/year (and spouse makes similar money) with no debt in a city like Dallas.....but your parents paid for your college education, wedding AND gave you the downpayment on your house....that's an entirely different experience from the black dude that grew up working class and used college/trade school to lift up his family.

We might make the same as Brad, but his money is much deeper because his glass is already half full. We usually end up starting from scratch.

 

[ThrobbingHood]

This Chris Rock joke sums up this thread easily:

In my neighborhood, there are four Black people. Hundreds of houses, four Black people. Who are these Black people? Well, there’s me, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy. Only Black people in the whole neighborhood. So let’s break it down, let’s break it down: me, I’m a decent comedian. I’m a’ight. Mary J. Blige, one of the greatest R&B singers to ever walk the Earth. Jay-Z, one of the greatest rappers to ever live. Eddie Murphy, one of the funniest actors to ever, ever do it. Do you know what the White man who lives next door to me does for a living? He’s a f**king dentist! He ain’t the best dentist in the world…he ain’t going to the Dental Hall of Fame…he don’t get plaques for getting rid of plaque. He’s just a yank-your-tooth-out dentist. See, the Black man gotta fly to get to somethin’ the White man can walk to!

Although he probably exaggerated....its not far from the truth. The white middle - upper class have generational wealth that has been passed down for the decades. They have a structure and system that allows them to flourish.

Although the black middle class has existed for decades and decades. .. rarely has there been a densely concentrated black middle class. Now we all know the main reason for this but sadly that's the reality.

Blackness has been made synonymous with 'struggle'. This indoctrination is what causes this poisonous mentality of being looked at as "bougie." That's why I respect Bill Cosby for his show because of how ground breaking it was.

If we had more shows/music/media of that calibre normalizing the black middle to upper class, then that stigma wouldn't exist.

 

[IsThatBrothaMouzone?]

I mostly agree. Something seems slightly off. But they're good definitions though.

I feel like working class/rich/wealthy is easy to define but middle class and upper middle class is trickier.

To me middle class is basically someone that's comfortable and can handle basic emergencies....maybe loaning a friend $500.

UMC (for me) is that level where you can take nice vacations, drive nice cars, own a nice house and still have money left to invest and save. Middle class can't afford all of those things. They can have a nice home and healthy savings but may need to settle for domestic travel instead of international vacation....more compromise.

 

[Matt504]

I feel like working class/rich/wealthy is easy to define but middle class and upper middle class is trickier.

To me middle class is basically someone that's comfortable and can handle basic emergencies....maybe loaning a friend $500.

UMC (for me) is that level where you can take nice vacations, drive nice cars, own a nice house and still have money left to invest and save. Middle class can't afford all of those things. They can have a nice home and healthy savings but may need to settle for domestic travel instead of international vacation....more compromise.

63% Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover A $500 Emergency

According to a brand new survey from Bankrate.com, just 37% of Americans have enough savings to pay for a $500 or $1,000 emergency. The other 63% would have to resort to measures like cutting back spending in other areas (23%), charging to a credit card (15%) or borrowing funds from friends and family (15%) in order to meet the cost of the unexpected event.

63% Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover A $500 Emergency

 

[Secure Da Bag]

63% Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover A $500 Emergency



63% Of Americans Don't Have Enough Savings To Cover A $500 Emergency

So 63% of Americans are either working class or poor.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

Although the black middle class has existed for decades and decades. .. rarely has there been a densely concentrated black middle class. Now we all know the main reason for this but sadly that's the reality.

Issue is that I don't think all of us know why that is. And I'm talking just the people on this forum. We repeating things we hear. And some of it may be true. But how many of us have actually done the research to know why?