On a mini-vacation (Fourth of July) before my actual vacation in less than a week from now. While "relaxing," I'm catching up on my reading list, in particular Black Bourgeoisie by E. Franklin Frazier. A really fascinating read if you want to understand the pathos of middle and upper middle class blacks culture as well as those aspirational blacks, who have yet to accept their status in society. According to Frazier, our desire for affluence has only served to differentiate ourselves from the masses of poorer Blacks, who nowadays are referred to as "ghetto." All throughout history, the black middle and upper middle class have sought to disassociate themselves with traditional black roots by way of using their fragile economic and political status as a way compensate for the small acceptance - if not total exclusion - from the larger white community. They're desire to fit into the white bourgeois ideals have also been the main reason why we struggle as a community with false notions of identity and achievement.
I'll let you provide your own examples of this phenomenon in our modern society. But reading this reminds me of the criticisms we levy against poor whites, who pledge their allegiance to the Republican party, despite the fact that the Republican party has no allegiance nor respect for poor whites.
In one of Frazier's chapters, entitled The Negro Press and Wish-Fulfillment, he takes to task the Black Press and their perpetuation of a "world of make-believe" for the black bourgeoisie by highlighting fantastic accounts of achievements of blacks and the recognition accorded to them by whites. He says that this world of make-believe has had an impact on how we view ourselves in the larger contexts of the rest of the world; particularly when it comes to global colonial problems.
Here is a small excerpt:
"The lack of interest of the black bourgeoisie & its mouthpiece, the Negro press, in the broader issues facing the modern world is due to the fact that the Negro has developed no economic or social philosophy except the opportunistic philosophy that the black intelligentsia has evolved to justify its anamalous & insecure position."
I too have notice a lack of global citizenry in many black publications, particularly Ebony, Essence and Jet magazine. Of course, the exception is when the social status and recognition of black global elite is concerned.
I'll let you provide your own examples of this phenomenon in our modern society. But reading this reminds me of the criticisms we levy against poor whites, who pledge their allegiance to the Republican party, despite the fact that the Republican party has no allegiance nor respect for poor whites.
In one of Frazier's chapters, entitled The Negro Press and Wish-Fulfillment, he takes to task the Black Press and their perpetuation of a "world of make-believe" for the black bourgeoisie by highlighting fantastic accounts of achievements of blacks and the recognition accorded to them by whites. He says that this world of make-believe has had an impact on how we view ourselves in the larger contexts of the rest of the world; particularly when it comes to global colonial problems.
Here is a small excerpt:
"The lack of interest of the black bourgeoisie & its mouthpiece, the Negro press, in the broader issues facing the modern world is due to the fact that the Negro has developed no economic or social philosophy except the opportunistic philosophy that the black intelligentsia has evolved to justify its anamalous & insecure position."
I too have notice a lack of global citizenry in many black publications, particularly Ebony, Essence and Jet magazine. Of course, the exception is when the social status and recognition of black global elite is concerned.
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