Race and Class Consciousness Among Lower- and Middle-Class Blacks

Abstract

Past studies have revealed that to a great extent, America is a racially stratified society. Early studies revealed that race was a significant factor influencing the life chances and social status of Blacks in America (Cox, 1948; Davis, Gardner, & Gardner, 1941; Drake & Cayton, 1945; DuBois, 1899; Frazier, 1957; Johnson, 1943; Myrdal, 1964). During the 1960s, the U.S. Riot Commission report (1967) concluded that Our nation is moving toward two societies, one Black, one White-separate and unequal; discrimination and segregation have long permeated much of American life; they now threaten the future of every American. More recent studies have also found that race continues to be a primary factor influencing Black life chances in America (Clark, 1978, 1980; Pettigrew, 1980; West, 1993; Willie, 1989). Past studies have concluded that racial stratification gives rise to race consciousness, which emerges from members of both the dominant and subordinate racial groups (Allen, 1970; Brown, 1931; Ferguson, 1936; Park, 1913, 1923; Pitts, 1974; Rose, 1964). On the other hand, America is also stratified by social class, which gives rise to class consciousness among members of both the dominant and subordinate classes. As such, both race consciousness and class consciousness are two forms of group consciousness that result from social structured inequality, based on race and class. The