In this thesis, I ask 'Do racism and anti-racism affect black middle-class cultural lives?' I answer this question through interviews with thirty-two black Brits in professional occupations, and ethnographic work across middle-class spaces in London. I argue there are three black middle-class identity modes - strategic assimilation, ethnoracial autonomous, and class-minded - that each show a different relationship between racism, anti-racism, and cultural lives. Each of these identity modes are characterised by specific cultural repertoires. Individuals towards strategic assimilation draw on cultural repertoires of code-switching and cultural equity. Through the repertoire of code-switching, individuals towards strategic assimilation 'switch' identities when around the white middle-class. This identity-switching is based on the premise that one must become palatable to the white middle-class in order to attain legitimate middle-class cultural membership. Racism thus affects such individuals' cultural identities as they show racialised (white) barriers to middle-class cultural membership. Nevertheless, such individuals draw on the anti-racist repertoire of cultural equity, meaning they strive to be equal to the white middle-class in terms of cultural capital. Such individuals therefore often 'decode' traditional middle-class culture as white, but consume such culture to maintain an equal standing to the white middle-class in terms of cultural capital. Those towards the ethnoracial autonomous identity mode draw on cultural repertoires of 'browning' and Afro-centrism. Through their anti-racist repertoire of browning, they stress that people ought to be proud of being black. They therefore resist 'code-switching' and challenge the view that one must assimilate with white norms to prove their middle-class status. Such individuals also use the anti-racist repertoire of Afro-centrism to argue that they have a moral duty to positively uphold black diasporic histories, identities, and culture. They therefore prioritise consuming cultural forms which give positive, authentic representations of the black diaspora, consequently challenging the devaluation of blackness in British society. Lastly, those towards the class-minded identity mode draw on cultural repertoires of post-racialism and de-racialisation. Such individuals believe British society is 'beyond' racism, and they define as 'middle-class' rather than 'black', often reproducing negative stereotypes of other black people. Such individuals use their consumption of middle-class cultural forms to symbolically separate themselves from other black people. Racism affects their cultural lives, therefore, as they often reproduce negative ideologies of other black people as being culturally myopic, uncultivated, or 'playing the race card'. My thesis develops the 'two streams' of research on Britain's black middle-class. Firstly, studies of black British middle-class identity have been unidimensional, focusing predominantly on strategic assimilation. My research shows that strategic assimilation is only one identity mode. Secondly, the literature on black middle-class cultural consumption is also unidimensional, making it appear as though all black middle-class people seek to consume 'middle-class' cultural forms that have a 'black' focus (for example, literature exploring black identity). My research shows that certain black middle-class people (those towards the class-minded identity mode) have no affinity towards 'black' cultural forms, while others (those towards strategic assimilation) make sure to consume 'traditional' middle-class culture to maintain an equal standing with the white middle-class.

This dissertation presents a thick ethnography that engages in the micro-analysis of the situationality of black middle-class collective identification processes through an examination of performances by members of the nine historically black sororities and fraternities at Atlanta Greek Picnic, an annual festival that occurs at the beginning of June in Atlanta, Georgia. It mainly attracts undergraduate and graduate members of these university-based organizations, as they exist all over the United States. This exploration of black Greek-letter organization (BGLO) performances uncovers processes through which young black middle-class individuals attempt to combine two universes that are at first glance in complete opposition to each other: the domain of the traditional black middle-class values with representations and fashions stemming from black popular culture. These constructions also attempt to incorporate—in a contradiction of sorts— black popular cultural elements in the objective to deconstruct the social conservatism that characterizes middle-class values, particularly in relation to sexuality and its representation in social behaviors and performances. This negotiation between prescribed v middle-class values of respectability and black popular culture provides a space wherein black individuals challenge and/or perpetuate those dominant tropes through identity performances that feed into the formation of black sexual politics, which I examine through a variety of BGLO staged and non-staged performances.

Magister Artium - MA / The black middle class of South Africa has been the subject of academic and media fascination since the democratisation of South Africa almost 30 years ago. However, this attention tends to portray a one-dimensional and homogenous image of the black middle class. The homogenising of this group often involves derogatory stereotypes and framing the group as shallow, and prone to especially excessive conspicuous consumption and vulgar displays of wealth and material possessions. Implicitly or overtly, the black middle class is therefore not seen as a bona fide middle class, i.e. entrepreneurial, zealous, dynamic and enterprising in demanding social recognition. Through the lens of food and food culture (which uses Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class and capital distinction), this thesis undertakes a phenomenological exploration of a group that is not only heterogeneous but also very energetically rebuilding a sense of self and dignity in the face of power relations, racism and stereotypes linked to colonialism, apartheid and post-colonial politics. The findings of this thesis reveal that black middle-class South Africans are determined to (a) affirm their belonging in society, (b) confirm their class standing and access to capital, and, (c) establish their individual identities as well as an individualised group identity. In the face of continuing inequality, unequal power relations and tense social relations, this group has developed strategies to mitigate and navigate these challenges. This thesis identified two key strategies that are employed by black consumers both online and in the field: ‘eating without food’ and the ‘cultured palate’ (my terms). These two strategies empower practitioners to navigate foodscapes and social spaces as well as demonstrate their class belonging.

What causes Black people in America to opt-out of voting in the American political process? Do racial or cultural markers play a part in their turning away from the political process? Do economic factors play a role? This question often raises ferocious arguments in America. Yet, there has been no thorough investigation of the motivations behind Black voting abstention. This dissertation seeks to fill that void by exploring why a sample of middle-class Philadelphians choose not to exercise their right to vote. Voter apathy, racial/communal interests, or other factors have historically been utilized to explain why individuals choose to sit on the periphery of the American political system. However, none of these studies examine the cultural factors that cause individuals of African descent to exercise abstention from voting. The purpose of this project is multi-fold: (a) to explore with a sample of Black nonvoters their reasons for not voting; (b) interrogate our current orientation that voting as a needed signifier for our existence, (c) to properly center Black nonpolitical engagement as a possible viable avenue for African-descended people in our pursuit of creating a milieu of resistance and liberation, (d) to help normalize nonvoting practices as valid and acceptable methods of Black political engagement within Africana Studies, the Academy, and the Africana community; and (e) to push back against the dominant discourse that voting is the only viable option for progress for African-descended people in America. This work explores the idea that abstaining from voting, which has been a source of shame and contention within the Black community, may serve as a practical and useful tool in resistance and liberatory fashion for our people. This study seeks to conceptualize and link Black nonparticipatory politics as a form of Political Maroonage. The value of this project is that it should add the academic discourse of the Black nonvoter’s critique of the American political process and add clarity to the politicians who are seeking these individuals’ support for political office. / African American Studies

Thesis (MBA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / South Africa is currently not considered a wine-drinking nation. The consumption per capita rate is very low, especially for a wine-producing country. To date, the wine industry has grown due to exports allowed since sanctions were lifted in 1994. With the export market set to decelerate over the next few years, the wine industry will have to develop the domestic market, especially the black consumer market for future growth. The emerging black market of South Africa has materialised as the strongest buying influence in the economy. They have an overwhelming desire to have access to a lifestyle, which in the past was not possible. While they are status and lifestyle orientated, they want products and brands that are aspirational and close to them. Understanding this market and the potential they pose is vital for the wine industry’s future. Wine marketers need to understand this target market’s thoughts and perceptions around wine, as this market is still largely untapped. The emerging black market has had little exposure to wine compared with other alcoholic drinks such as beer, brandy and the ready-to-drink category and the wine industry will have to look at a comprehensive strategy to target them. It is the purpose of this study to provide detailed insights into the emerging black market of South Africa in connection with wine consumption. Initially, a literature review was conducted to investigate this target market and the wine industry’s current situation. Various marketing tools were discussed designed to specifically target the emerging black market. Based on this information, a consumer survey was conducted amongst black MBA students of the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). The data was analysed and conclusions were drawn that answered the questions and objectives of this study. The analyses showed that the wine industry should focus on the women segment of the emerging black market, as they are the current group interested in wine. Other main findings included that wine needed to be positioned as an aspirational product; that brand ambassadors in large social networks should be identified; and finally that the wine industry and all its stakeholders should work together to educate the emerging black market and collectively apply the various marketing techniques found to be popular.

Esta dissertação de mestrado desenvolve uma análise da segregação residencial no município de São Paulo, descrita a partir da articulação entre raça e classe social. Deste modo, realçamos as diferenças de padrões residenciais de negros e brancos pertencentes a estratos sociais semelhantes, dando ênfase à caracterização da segregação racial nas classes médias e altas de São Paulo. A partir desta descrição, revelamos a maneira pela qual a segregação se relaciona com o perfil da estratificação social e das desigualdades raciais no Brasil, refletindo as dificuldades de inserção dos negros em estratos sociais mais altos. Para tanto, defendemos a hipótese de que a distância residencial entre os negros e brancos aumenta conforme consideramos as camadas sociais médias e altas. De modo que os negros destes estratos apresentam maior concentração em bairros mais pobres e periféricos. Esta hipótese é demonstrada através de uma ampla análise quantitativa, na qual exploramos a aplicação de diversas técnicas disponíveis para mensuração e análise da segregação residencial. Nossa argumentação acerca destas questões se alicerça no campo da sociologia das relações raciais, em diálogo com a produção brasileira e norte-americana sobre segregação residencial. / In this dissertation we develop an analysis of residential segregation in the city of São Paulo based upon the articulation of race and social class. In this way one can stress the differences in residential patterns among blacks and whites belonging to similar social strata, highlighting racial segregation in middle and upper classes in São Paulo. From this description we reveal the way in which segregation relates itself with the contour of social stratification and racial inequalities in Brazil, reflecting on the difficulties in inclusion of blacks in higher social strata. For such, we defend the hypothesis that the residential distance in blacks and whites increases as we look upon the middle and higher social classes. The blacks in these strata are more concentrated in poorer and peripheral neighborhoods. This hypothesis is demonstrated through a wide quantitative analysis in which we apply several available techniques for measurement and analysis of residential segregation. Our argument for such questions is based on the sociology of racial relations, but also in dialogue with the north-American and Brazilian literature relating to residential segregation.

Esta dissertação de mestrado desenvolve uma análise da segregação residencial no município de São Paulo, descrita a partir da articulação entre raça e classe social. Deste modo, realçamos as diferenças de padrões residenciais de negros e brancos pertencentes a estratos sociais semelhantes, dando ênfase à caracterização da segregação racial nas classes médias e altas de São Paulo. A partir desta descrição, revelamos a maneira pela qual a segregação se relaciona com o perfil da estratificação social e das desigualdades raciais no Brasil, refletindo as dificuldades de inserção dos negros em estratos sociais mais altos. Para tanto, defendemos a hipótese de que a distância residencial entre os negros e brancos aumenta conforme consideramos as camadas sociais médias e altas. De modo que os negros destes estratos apresentam maior concentração em bairros mais pobres e periféricos. Esta hipótese é demonstrada através de uma ampla análise quantitativa, na qual exploramos a aplicação de diversas técnicas disponíveis para mensuração e análise da segregação residencial. Nossa argumentação acerca destas questões se alicerça no campo da sociologia das relações raciais, em diálogo com a produção brasileira e norte-americana sobre segregação residencial. / In this dissertation we develop an analysis of residential segregation in the city of São Paulo based upon the articulation of race and social class. In this way one can stress the differences in residential patterns among blacks and whites belonging to similar social strata, highlighting racial segregation in middle and upper classes in São Paulo. From this description we reveal the way in which segregation relates itself with the contour of social stratification and racial inequalities in Brazil, reflecting on the difficulties in inclusion of blacks in higher social strata. For such, we defend the hypothesis that the residential distance in blacks and whites increases as we look upon the middle and higher social classes. The blacks in these strata are more concentrated in poorer and peripheral neighborhoods. This hypothesis is demonstrated through a wide quantitative analysis in which we apply several available techniques for measurement and analysis of residential segregation. Our argument for such questions is based on the sociology of racial relations, but also in dialogue with the north-American and Brazilian literature relating to residential segregation.

Student Number: 0104318V - MA research report - School of Social Sciences - Faculty of Humanities / The corporate middle class, or managers, occupies a contradictory class location in capitalist relations of production. While they do not own the means of production, this class stratum is not exploited like the working class. This class position, however, is bound to be different for a black manager whose advancement in the workplace may be due to government attempts to economically empower black people to redress the injustices imposed by the racially dominated social structure of the past. Through a Weberian understanding of social stratification as based on class, social status and power, this research aims to unearth how members of the African corporate middle class understand their position and roles in South African workplaces and communities. It also goes deeper to scrutinise the impact of this structural position on their agency. It is shown that their contradictory class location is exacerbated by their race. African managers constantly negotiate their positions and roles in their workplaces and communities. Indeed, while their managerial position affords them spaces that they could not have occupied during the apartheid era, their racial character lessens their ability to manoeuvre within these spaces. This can be identified both in workplaces and communities. It is shown that their middle-class status cannot be consolidated because of their perceived lower social status and less power to influence decision making in their organisations. Furthermore, it is shown that, although not all of the interviewees moved to middle-class areas, there is an indication of alienation in previously white-only residential areas. This is further exacerbated by expectations from their former communities and members of their extended families. As a result of high levels of unemployment in African communities, members of this group are actively contributing to uplift members of their extended families.

Since the start of the 20th century, the Black Middle Class (BMC) has been a creation of both direct and indirect government policy and action. More importantly, had it not been for government action directed towards blacks, the BMC that is visible today would not exist. During the time period of the great migration, blacks prospered from increased economic demand along with policy targeted both directly and indirectly at employing millions of blacks. During the 1960’s and 70’s, the BMC became a viable entity with civil rights laws that forced black men and women into higher education institutions as well as public and private employment. The policy implemented during this time sought to end discrimination by making it illegal and tightly monitoring it. As a result, the BMC saw accelerated growth in both educational attainment and wage. However, this immediate progress was brought to a standstill starting with a wave of conservatism sparked and led by the election of Ronald Reagan. Since that time, the BMC has made gains both educationally and economically, but the growth has been much less apparent. Also, many in the BMC have sought careers in the public sector due to discrimination that may exist because of a lack of governmental regulation and oversight in the private sector. There are many perils that face the BMC today, but most importantly the threat to massive reductions in the public sector federally and locally.

This dissertation explores the ways in which black single mothers in the Washington, DC metropolitan area use material goods and consumption practices to inform their identities as members of the middle class. Black middle class women are challenging stereotypes surrounding single mother households, the idea of family, and class status in the United States, as more women overall are having children while single, delaying or deciding against marriage, and are entering the middle and upper-middle classes as a result of advanced education and career opportunities. Because of these demographic and sociocultural shifts, the romanticized “nuclear family” which consists of a married heterosexual couple and their children is becoming less authoritative as a symbol of middle class status. Instead, the middle class is represented through lifestyle options such as home ownership, neighborhood selection, fashion choices, education, and leisure activities. In the Washington, DC metro area, black women are asserting their single status while employing strategies to raise their children and excel professionally in order to maintain a middle class lifestyle. In this dissertation I examine black women, who are both single mothers and nonpoor, as an understudied, but constructive group in the DC metro area. Through ethnographic field research, I explored their experiences in the home, workplace, and greater community by employing a mixed methods approach including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups. I demonstrate the ways material goods and experiences shape their complex identifies against and in support of various stereotypes. This research is unique in its focus on the black middle class from a new perspective and contributes to scholarly literatures on class and identity formation, black womanhood and motherhood, and material culture.