IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

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.

people need to stop having so many kids when they dont have the money to support them. Id like to see the stats for latino kids though.

i always wonder about these so called stats and even the anecdotes people tell about black americans....that just has not been my exeperience.

i never knew anybody who didnt atleast go to college (not 100% graduated but most), or who exhibited uber-ghetto behavior or who were in jail when I was growing up.

The black america i grew up in was filled with charm school, debutant balls, father-daughter dances, and multigenerational college legacies.

somebody posted the other day about how black american mothers are ghetto and levae their children all about the place....i can honestly say, i have never known anybody personally not as a child nor an adult who participates in that type of behavior.

i realise class is an issue, but i always wonder where y'all meet the negros that yall does hang around....

i always wonder about these so called stats and even the anecdotes people tell about black americans....that just has not been my exeperience.

i never knew anybody who didnt atleast go to college (not 100% graduated but most), or who exhibited uber-ghetto behavior or who were in jail when I was growing up.

The black america i grew up in was filled with charm school, debutant balls, father-daughter dances, and multigenerational college legacies.

somebody posted the other day about how black american mothers are ghetto and levae their children all about the place....i can honestly say, i have never known anybody personally not as a child nor an adult who participates in that type of behavior.

i realise class is an issue, but i always wonder where y'all meet the negros that yall does hang around....

Put a limit on welfare. 3 kids and the 4th you are on your own.

That is the whole point, there seems to be a widening divide in AfroAmerica between the haves and have nots.

That is the whole point, there seems to be a widening divide in AfroAmerica between the haves and have nots.

hon, come and spend the weekend in DC and come around my way. I live not too far form this place called "simple city". These kids and there parents aren't BAD in my opinion, however, they are ignorant and extremely misguided as to what it takes to overcome and grow beyond the confines of there present environment.

I come from that type of mentality, so it doesn't bother me in the slightest. however, if you were to interact with them, you may be turned off initially.

but my point is the people who fall within the less privileged classes, which according to these stats and others ive read, make up a smaller portion of blacks in this country seem to be the representation for black americans.

as far as the anecdotes go: i suspect that if these are the kindsa people u are encountering, then it says something about the caliber of your surroundings, assuming u are encountering them in a social setting of some sort.

+100

Personally, I blame segregation on this.

Really? I blame desegregation....

Really? I blame desegregation....

Naw, desegration didn't create the situation.