"Not Free, Merely Licensed": The Black Middle Class As Political Language

The Black middle class has been a subject of intense debate in the last twenty years. Much of the debate has centered on the existence of the Black middle class and whether their status is permanent. Using, J.G.A. Pocock's, concept of "political language," I plan to examine the Black middle class as part of a political discourse. The discourse concerning the Black middle class, which has its roots in Emancipation period, has changed since the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. This thesis attempts to examine this change in discourse.By examining the pre-civil rights era and the post-civil rights era, one can point to specific political language, such as the Moynihan Report, that begin to mark the Black middle class as different from the rest of the Black population. Through the process of political and intellectual isolation of the Black middle class in the period from 1965-1980,and partial and symbolic incorporation of this class from 1980-1998, there has been a rearticulation of "race" and the "Racial Contract." The rearticulation has shifted from the Black/White variant, exemplified by Jim Crow, to the multicultural middle classes and its negation of the Post-Industrial poor/jobless Black. It is because of this new articulation of the Racial Contract, that there is a need for a new version of uplift, one that mediates the day-to-day realities of the Post-Industrial poor/jobless and that address the cultural systemic causes of these realities.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

African-American and African Studies

Grantor dc:publisher

The Ohio State University

Year dc:date

1999

Author dc:creator

• White, Derrick E.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eudell, Demetrius

• African American Studies
• African Studies

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1363865000

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:osu1363865000