At the turn of the century, the black American identity was characterized by class, gender, sexuality, and generational diversity. The black middle and working classes entered the new century more confident about their status in America. However, gaps still existed between black Americans and white Americans. In 2006, the median income for black households was 61 percent of the median income for white households; in 2010, the Urban League calculated the equality index—the relative status of blacks versus whites in American society—at 71.8 percent.
However, by 2010 nearly half of all black families, or about six million households, were wealthy enough to own their own homes, and a fourth of black adults occupied management or professional jobs. During these years, 2.4 million African American households had an annual income of $75,000 or more.
Free from the subjugation that marked their forefathers’ lives— disfranchisement, lynching, Jim Crow segregation—this new generation of African Americans was optimistic about its place in the nation. Although middle-class black Americans still had to pay the “black tax” (meaning that they had to work twice as hard as whites for the same outcome some would argue), African Americans moving into the 21st century felt freer, and in fact were freer, than any previous generation of African Americans.
In 2008, the United States elected its first black president. For some, this moment marked the end of American racism. Others observed the difficulty that President Obama encountered when he talked about race, and the way that his opponents racialized their opposition to his policies, and concluded that the nation remained racially polarized. Moving into present day we are now faced with numerous issues, Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, Me Too, Gun Violence and the killing of unarmed black people in the press, COVID and debates on critical race theory. I want you to think about the history presented and address the following questions.
- What can we do to improve the current political climate? Or, can there be anything done?
- Can we say we are living in a post-racial society?
Your response should be minimum four paragraphs or 1 – 2 pages and please respond to all questions.
