Black Middle Class

In the United States, the black middle class consists of African Americans who have middle-class status within the American class structure. It is an occurrence that predominately began to develop in the early 1960s, when the ongoing African-American Civil Rights Movement led to the outlawing of de jure racial segregation. The gains accrued by the Civil Rights Era is strongly correlated with the emergence of a new black middle class.

Despite modest increases in wealth, the black middle class still faces societal and institutional forms of racism and discrimination, which constrains the upward mobility of African Americans. These societal and institutional forms of racism and discrimination are reflected in the racial wealth gap, housing discrimination, residential segregation, the achievement gap, and more. Moreover, the historical implications of slavery and marginalization has made race a proxy for disadvantage, which many African Americans face even despite achieving professional and educational success.