Abstract
In the mid-20th century only 10 percent of all black workers were employed in middle-class occupations. Today, however, they represent approximately 27 percent of employed blacks (Landry, 1987; 2–3). This significant increase was a consequence of events occurring during the 1960s, such as an expanding economy, the Civil Rights Movement, and the implementation of state and federal laws mandating equal employment opportunity for all American citizens. Since the decade of the 60s, blacks have experienced a greater degree of social mobility than in the past because of the plethora of white collar occupations now available to them. For many white collar workers, employment is a primary source of social identity. Hence, one expects that as job demands gain in importance, individuals will become detached from other primary associations having a basis in family, spirituality, race, and ethnicity. Of particular concern for this paper, the rise of blacks into the ranks of the middle class may function to slowly dissipate racial solidarity and/or social cohesion between themselves and lower-class blacks. In other words, I am suggesting that for the black middle class, the priorities of work and living a middle-class lifestyle may, over time, take precedence over attachment and identification with issues involving race. This paper suggests then, that the identification of the black middle class with the black lower class will decrease as the former continues to occupy white collar positions and to experience upward social mobility. Indeed, this has already occurred to a significant degree, and as a result the black middle class’s traditional leadership role in the black community has been altered.
Reprinted from The International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, vol. 6, no. 2 (New York: Human Sciences Press, 1992).
The author thanks Annette Evans and Marsha Shapiro Rose for their advice during the preparation of this manuscript.
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Evans, A.S. (1992). The Transformation of the Black Middle Class. In: Vidich, A.J. (eds) The New Middle Classes. Main Trends of the Modern World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23771-5_12
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