African-American middle class

Social class in the United States The African-American middle class refers to those within the African-American community who have achieved middle-class status in the U.S. class structure. It is a societal level within the African-American community that primarily began to develop in the early 1960s, when the ongoing civil rights movement led to the outlawing of de jure racial segregation. The African American middle class exists throughout the United States, particularly in the Northeast and in the South, with the largest contiguous majority black middle-class neighborhoods being in the Washington, DC suburbs in Maryland. The African American middle class is also prevalent in the Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Memphis, Dallas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, San Antonio, and Chicago areas. The black middle class has experienced significant growth since the 1960s, accompanied by a decrease in the percentage of impoverished blacks. In the early 1960s, approximately 9 to 12 percent of blacks were considered middle class, whereas over half of the black population was categorized as poor. By the conclusion of the 20th century, around one-third of blacks were identified as middle clas