TROUBL

I would like to examine race through the scope of class consciousness. Class not only plays a role in the lives of everyone regardless of race, it often divides races internally. The consideration of class is crucial to understanding the role of black Americans in our society. These days fruitful discussions of class are rare and overtly biased when it comes to the black community. In fact, the candid discussion of money and property has become one of the unspoken taboos in this country. Class is vital to understand when addressing the social privileges and well being of people.The quality of education, health care, food consumption, employment, opportunity and so forth are direct results of one’s class disposition. By studying class, we also find links to white collar vs. blue collar crimes, unemployment, poor health, etc.

First, there is a sharp distinction between being rich and being wealthy. While an individual can become monetarily and materialistically rich, wealth is gained over generations through ownership. Being rich also has many liabilities involved if a person who has gained such large quantities of capital is not aware of the way to utilize their money. We have all heard the many stories about people who have “made it” and then lost it within a staggeringly short period of time. Black people have gained a terrible stigma for breaking their necks giving the money they earn right back into the system of white owners. By no means is this stereotype a universal truth, though the mass media would have us believe otherwise in their depictions of blacks in America.

As I have mentioned previously in “Concerning Blackness” that the black middle class and, indeed, upper class exists in American society beyond just the usual focal points which the mainstream media acknowledges. There are those who have become trailblazers by owning their own properties, land, investments and businesses allowing them to pass their money onto their children and communities. Unfortunately, there are far too few leaders who have used their understanding to spread wisdom through the folds of the rest of their communities, leaving many on a perilous paper chase.

Culturally, one of the major problems across all disenfranchised communities is that the negative impact of a few are held as an example of the many rather than separated from the whole. The entire community is judged, internally and externally. These are held as the norm rather than the exceptions. In the mainstream, blacks have traditionally been the subjects of fear, ridicule and hatred while being simultaneously admired for our numerous contributions and innovations to American society, most notably entertainment. The concept of “white privilege” addresses this problem thoroughly (If you haven’t heard of it, check it out, it is both multifaceted and interesting). Many whites, especially those who have been defined as “middle class” see themselves as individuals only, never relating to the whole, nor feeling any form of guilt or pride for the actions of those representatives of their race. However, when a black person commits a crime on any level, people of other cultures look at all of us for answers.

While race may be one of the instant distinctions which people make, it is also one of the most complex and often misunderstood. Examples of class issues are everywhere throughout our history. One can go back hundreds of years to discuss the politics of the free black man as opposed to those subjected to slavery, the northern v. southern black communities, Booker T. Washington v. W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. v. Malcolm X, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson v. Dr. Bill Cosby and currently, the question of Barack Obama’s authenticity. These intra-racial political debates must be examined through other scopes besides the veneer of blackness.

Let’s get something straight about the ghetto: it was built from the ground up the same way as suburbia, which continues to expand. Originally, the Projects were just that, projects attempted by the government and private contractors. Through racial profiling in the real estate, black people were regulated to these areas while whites moved out into the land of lawns and picket fences. The decline of inner city communities was caused and controlled by a small collection of men who had no stake in the communities in which they owned virtually all of the property. As time moved forward, businesses fled the area leaving many in the working class people jobless or grossly underpaid (leaving many to take on multiple jobs). There are many factors such as over population, poor education, and poor health care which caused many people, who were all but forgotten by their government, to suffer. Of course these are the formulaic conditions which cause rises in crime. Next came law enforcement. We all know the rest. Today, in this era of swift, sweeping gentrification we constantly witness the displacement of our friends and loved ones who have helped to restore their communities to better places to live, only to see them rewarded with an eviction notice by the new big shot, whose goal is to make money, that has purchased the property the tenants have always “rented.” This is one of many stories which many of us know all too well.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to shine, but when it comes to using capital to make real change or building something bigger than oneself, huge problems can occur. Nobody does it alone, whether that guidance comes from the classroom, the dinner table, mentors, or the streets. Remember those people who stood by you to make it all happen. Indeed, we will have to become the leadership which we would like to see. If we are going to make that happen, we have to be conscious of class.