Middle Class Black America Stand Up...

I GOT A PROLLEM WITCHU.

SEVERAL PROLLEMS ACTUALLY.

Yes indeed... Middle Class Black America pisses me off so bad sometimes. I talk about it in third person as if I'm not a part of it, but what I'm referring to is the tendencies and ideals that constantly resurface in everything it touches. And don't worry, I got a problem with every group of people, and even with myself when I think about it long enough, so don't take it personally. But this one is just sitting there in front of me, and nobody wants to address it.

Actually, that's a good place to start. Why DOESN'T anybody ever address the Black Middle Class? I'll tell you why: because the Black Middle Class plays right into the hands of those over them and overlooks those of lesser social stature. I won't call it selling out. But picture this:

The goal of the Black Middle Class is to become as assimilated into the "established culture", that being White American society, as possible. Don't believe me? I'm willing to bet that the majority of Black Middle Class households frown on dreadlocks, braids, and afros. Why? Because they're "unprofessional". But did you ever stop to think about what makes them "unprofessional"? You can walk into an interview with an Armani suit and the closest thing you could get to gator shoes without being a distraction, and you will STILL get dirty looks if you merely wear your hair the way people of color in other countries wear theirs. I don't care how trim the 'fro, how tight the braids, how clean the dreads; you're an upstart and you need to conform to the "other people who work here". And Middle Class Black America, you AGREE with that! I won't call it selling out tho, but the "established culture" loves you for it.

But back to why Middle Class Black America isn't addressed. On one hand, you play into the established culture's hand, so they don't have enough of a problem with you to talk about you. On the other hand, you're so detached from Lower Class Black America that you can't even hear them. Bill.

It seems the trademark of Middle Class Black American culture is putting down those who are already on the bottom. And no, it's not constructive criticism. Constructive criticism is when you recognize the problem and become a part of the solution alongside the person. But I'm tryna picture Heathcliff Huxtable taking a walk through the projects right now. If you can picture that, then you're a better man than me.

It's a lack of empathy; the Black Middle Class is so detached from the Lower Class that even the solution it proposes to any given problem lacks foundation. I've heard a million "kids need to pull up their pants and the world will be better" speeches in my school career and I never took a single one seriously. When I hear a "where are these kids's fathers" speech, or a "we need a solution to help the single mothers" speech, then I'll take what the Black Middle Class says seriously. See, when you're detached from something and lack an understanding of the state that it's in, you start to say things that make sense only to you in the form of half-baked solutions. But the thing is, since the Black Lower Class isn't "worth listening to", then that's the best that the Black Middle Class will ever do in "giving advice".

Oh... don't act like the Middle Class takes the Lower Class seriously. Are YOU serious? Set up a table. Put a book by Maya Angelou on one side; put a book by Tupac Shakur on the other. Ask a seasoned Middle Class Black American high school teacher or principal (I had to do it, I'm sorry) to choose one or both of the books for a reading list. And after you ask why they left the Tupac book on the table, listen to them tell you, "that book used the 'n' word too much..."

Then ask them if Mark Twain is on the reading list.

'Ammmn...I know it hurts. You'd rather the "established culture" call you a nigger, knowhatahmsayin, so you can fit in and feel better about it. "Chicken's on the deck!" *whistle* (Chappelle show reference)

But enough, enough about that. I feel another education spiel coming. Tell me this: Middle Class Black America, why do ya'll feel that education is gon' save us? Do you realize educated people are the ones who run all the f'd up institutions you're tryna be a part of... well, you won't admit they're f'd up cuz that's where you aspire to be, I understand. We'll do it like this then; reset...

Education is to be desired. Education is one of the greatest things a man can obtain in life. SO... Go to college, get an education right? Really? Cuz, Middle Class Black America tells me to go to college for something else: to get a piece of paper so I can qualify to work for someone else and make more money. Hold on to that word "qualify".

Now, before you jump on your African-American History soapbox and talk about people dying for our rights to free education, let me say, you're right. They fought for and obtained the freedom to further their education. Now hear what I'm saying: not going to school to get a DIPLOMA, but going to school to get an EDUCATION. Not going to school to meet set STANDARDS, but going to school to get an EDUCATION and set their OWN standards. See the difference?

It's funny: my whole Middle Class Black American life, I grow up with the impression everybody goes to college to get an education and get a job. And then somehow we, with education, can change the world or somethin. Somewhere between my last year of high school and my first year of college, I discovered that the real objective is to obtain a plain old piece of paper that says, "I have worth". Then one day I was talking to an older friend, and he was talking about the difference between us and foreigners. He said, "The difference between us and them is we grow up and we're expected to get a piece of paper and work for a business; they grow up and they're expected to OWN a business." 'Ammmn...

So what's good, Middle Class Black America? Two things you should take note of here: 1) Be honest; we don't care about education. We care about being "qualified" to operate in the "established culture". I won't call it selling out, but "they" love you for it.
2) Not only do we work to meet their standards, but then we work FOR them after their standards are met. Break our backs to make a little more, but then make them a LOT more. And at the end of the day, even at work our mobility still depends more on how much behind-kissing we can fit in a day than how "qualified" we are. So WE got a lot to be proud of huh...

Middle Class Black America, listen up: education is not gonna save us; hell, it's not really education you're after ANYWAY. It's a permission slip from the established culture to advance in their Monopoly game, that's what you go to college for. Ask yourself, "How can I/we advance when my job is to make somebody else look good/obtain wealth?" If you really went to school to get an education, then why don't you think outside the box like an educated man or woman? That's what pisses me off; you have the potential to change the world, but you don't have the courage to step outside of your traditional safety zone: a wife, kids, and a white picket fence and you've clenched the American dream, boom.

Which is my last point actually. The most amazing feat of the Black Middle Class is somehow managing to place themselves completely above the things that go on around them. I'm tambout, they will actually look at you funny if you say something like, "let's get involved". Call ya a "kickback from the 60's" or something, like the time for change has passed and this is just the way things are. No, that's too nice. It's more like, "there's nothing wrong here; the established culture loves us". That complacency, that satisfaction, that tendency to look away from what's right in front of them; that's my biggest issue with the Black Middle Class.

It's actually funny; you're more likely to find activism in the Black Upper Class than in the Middle Class, but the Middle Class is closer to the distress. And I gotta say this too: BLACK MIDDLE CLASS, SHAKING YOUR HEAD AND SAYING "THAT'S A SHAME" IS NOT ACTIVISM. The American Black Middle Class has got to be the most-talking, least-acting demographic in human history. It's like it's a status symbol to take note of obvious injustices as an opportunity to say something obvious. I can see it now... Rodney King is getting beaten on live TV, and Middle Class Black households have a Cosby moment with the family sitting in front of the TV as the camera pans from the youngest child to the oldest member of the family, who says, "When will it end?" before the credits roll. 'Next sunrise, breakfast is served with two eggs and a slab of turkey-bacon bent into a smile and a tall glass of sunshine. Nothing changes, nobody's upset, no remote plans to take action.

And, oh my goodness, this one right here... It's bad enough we don't take action. But then, what some of us do... we say "somebody else will take action". Aight you punk... You're in the last 3 seconds of a basketball game; 5 players on the court, 1 bucket to get the win. Well, your punk behind iz scared to take the shot, so you dish it off to ya teammate, who's just like you, so he dishes to the man to his right, who is a pass-ifist as well and tosses cross-court to the wingman, who passes to open man, who wasn't ready, and the ball makes it all the way back to you.

First of all, by the time you're done with all that passing, the buzzer goes off and you've blown the opportunity. But thats not why you lost; you lost because none of you punks would pull the trigger and take the shot, so the score never changes; you all figured somebody else would handle it, and come to find out nobody would. That's the Black Middle Class for ya, smh.

If you don't plan to change the situation, then don't talk about it; save your breath for something worth saying.

Matter of fact, I think I'm 'bout done with this roast. Why did I do it? I dunno why I did it; I'm Middle Class, we run our mouths a lot. But I figured I'd at least take action and leave it in a tangible form for future reference. And no, it's not some perfectly organized and bulletproof argument; this isn't college, this is reality. If you're in touch with reality, then you'll also feel something of what I said, even if not all of it. Cuz one thing that I don't want to be guilty of is keeping silent when something needs to be said. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Middle Class Black America?