The Black Middle Class © 2016
Too often ignored, too often not appreciated?
Were it not for the black middle class, the civil rights victories we now cherish- never would have happened. Were it not for the black middle class:
*Many legal victories never would have happened.
*There never would have been a Motown.
*There never would have black radio stations.
*There never would have been black banks and small businesses.
*Those not in the middle class would not have had examples to aspire to.
Yet, despite these successes, the black middle class is often ignored and just as often unappreciated in the black community. It’s all about the poor.
After the 1967 riots, Detroit lost a good number of its white residents. Between then and a few years ago, the black middle class was carrying the city. They had remained loyal when others fled. But the city’s leadership ignored the black middle class’ concerns, and they concentrated almost exclusively on the poor.
However, the middle class, irrespective of color, is the backbone of any city that is thriving and doing well. Their taxes provide much needed revenue for all the services city residents sometimes take for granted. Their presence in neighborhoods sets a standard of excellence that makes for stable neighborhoods.Their skills and talents help to make their cities and governments function well.
For years, Detroit held its own after white flight. The key, you guessed it, was the black middle class. They kept the city solvent.
In the last decade in Detroit, the black middle class has been trickling out. This, in part, led to budget shortfalls in the city. The middle class will tell you that they left because the schools, the services, and police responses were substandard.
They will also tell you that they left because of crime, high insurance rates, corruption in government, etc. Though the black middle class stayed when others left the city, their loyalty was rarely appreciated by city leaders or black leaders.
In urban cities, the focus is almost exclusively on the poor, and the tendency is to forget about the middle class, especially the black middle class. Rather than looking out for the group that pays the bills, city leaders and black leaders have long catered to the poor. Any new development inevitably prompted the question, “What about the poor?” A rational person would argue that neither the poor nor the middle class should be neglected.
In Detroit’s case, however, balance has been lacking. A slew of programs, policies and overtures over the years have been aimed at the poor, which is not a bad thing, in the abstract. But that approach has been shortsighted. No city should neglect the main group it relies on for tax revenues.
In too many middle class neighborhoods, residents saw their services deteriorate while their taxes increased. They saw the quality of the schools decline, and they saw formerly safe middle class neighborhoods become unsafe.
In many urban cities, for reasons that don’t make sense, it hasn’t been popular to champion the cause of the black middle class. But what’s popular isn’t always right nor does it make sense. If a city only promotes the causes of the poor, those very causes will become a magnet for the poor.
If, on the other hand, cities and black leaders did more to promote policies that catered to the middle class, it could be a win-win for the middle class and the poor. Businesses love to locate where the people have stable incomes and are well educated.
The task for Detroit and similar cities is to promote education and stable families to help the poor to become upward bound. At the same time, the city should unabashedly reach out to the middle class and support the issues that concerns them.
Will the black community ever stop celebrating the poor and neglecting or putting down the black middle class?
Take Atlanta. That city proudly promotes its black middle class, and many high-income Blacks now call it home. Atlanta is seen as a magnet for the black middle class and for those aspiring to get into the middle class. Our city can do the same.
Too often ignored, too often not appreciated?
Were it not for the black middle class, the civil rights victories we now cherish- never would have happened. Were it not for the black middle class:
*Many legal victories never would have happened.
*There never would have been a Motown.
*There never would have black radio stations.
*There never would have been black banks and small businesses.
*Those not in the middle class would not have had examples to aspire to.
Yet, despite these successes, the black middle class is often ignored and just as often unappreciated in the black community. It’s all about the poor.
After the 1967 riots, Detroit lost a good number of its white residents. Between then and a few years ago, the black middle class was carrying the city. They had remained loyal when others fled. But the city’s leadership ignored the black middle class’ concerns, and they concentrated almost exclusively on the poor.
However, the middle class, irrespective of color, is the backbone of any city that is thriving and doing well. Their taxes provide much needed revenue for all the services city residents sometimes take for granted. Their presence in neighborhoods sets a standard of excellence that makes for stable neighborhoods.Their skills and talents help to make their cities and governments function well.
For years, Detroit held its own after white flight. The key, you guessed it, was the black middle class. They kept the city solvent.
In the last decade in Detroit, the black middle class has been trickling out. This, in part, led to budget shortfalls in the city. The middle class will tell you that they left because the schools, the services, and police responses were substandard.
They will also tell you that they left because of crime, high insurance rates, corruption in government, etc. Though the black middle class stayed when others left the city, their loyalty was rarely appreciated by city leaders or black leaders.
In urban cities, the focus is almost exclusively on the poor, and the tendency is to forget about the middle class, especially the black middle class. Rather than looking out for the group that pays the bills, city leaders and black leaders have long catered to the poor. Any new development inevitably prompted the question, “What about the poor?” A rational person would argue that neither the poor nor the middle class should be neglected.
In Detroit’s case, however, balance has been lacking. A slew of programs, policies and overtures over the years have been aimed at the poor, which is not a bad thing, in the abstract. But that approach has been shortsighted. No city should neglect the main group it relies on for tax revenues.
In too many middle class neighborhoods, residents saw their services deteriorate while their taxes increased. They saw the quality of the schools decline, and they saw formerly safe middle class neighborhoods become unsafe.
In many urban cities, for reasons that don’t make sense, it hasn’t been popular to champion the cause of the black middle class. But what’s popular isn’t always right nor does it make sense. If a city only promotes the causes of the poor, those very causes will become a magnet for the poor.
If, on the other hand, cities and black leaders did more to promote policies that catered to the middle class, it could be a win-win for the middle class and the poor. Businesses love to locate where the people have stable incomes and are well educated.
The task for Detroit and similar cities is to promote education and stable families to help the poor to become upward bound. At the same time, the city should unabashedly reach out to the middle class and support the issues that concerns them.
Will the black community ever stop celebrating the poor and neglecting or putting down the black middle class?
Take Atlanta. That city proudly promotes its black middle class, and many high-income Blacks now call it home. Atlanta is seen as a magnet for the black middle class and for those aspiring to get into the middle class. Our city can do the same.