Check out the book "Our Kind of People" it talks all about class differences...actually black Americans have the highest class statification of any ethnicity in America and it is growing not decreasing. There are far more black middle class today than 50 years ago...most blacks are middle class, however 50 years ago most blacks lived in poverty, a very very small percentage were middle class, and a minute number were rich.

Basically what has happened is the vast majority of blacks are middle class and above, but we have people who are very poor, the bottom 25% are more poor than any other group.

If you put black wealth on a Bellcurve, we have more varience in income per capita than any other group.
Here is something from Cobb's site on black income statification:
2004 University of Georgia Selig Center study, U.S. Census Bureau, National Black Chamber of Commerce, Target Market News, 2004 NUL "State of Black America" Report
74% live above the poverty line (vs. 10% in 1940 and 45% in 1960). All-time high above poverty: 79% in 2001
5% rich, 44% middle class, 27% working class, 24% poor (2004)
Overall median household income: $$37,000 (2000). Median income for married households: $48,000 (2002)
Top 5 states with highest median black household income: New Hampshire $43,574, Alaska $42,887, Maryland $41,652, Hawaii $41,032, New Jersey $38,513
so basically in the past most blacks were poor, very few were wealthy so there was low class stratification...now the stratification is huge.
what it means is the poorest blacks are falling further behind everyone else, about 50% of black children are born in poverty (because the bottom 25% of blacks who are poor have almost half the children)...so basically every black American that makes it out of poverty into the middle class is probably replaced by two just born into it.
This is a major problem.