Upward mobility can be defined as the movement of individuals from lower to higher-class levels. Economic mobility for the black men varies so much in the past ten years due to the strong correlation of some social factors and some advancement. Social discrimination at the place of work due to the color of skin, differences in social class and level of education are the reasons for the African American inability to climb the economic ladder in the past ten years.
According to (Carbado & Gulati, 10), black Americans males were centered as an educated, middle class and they were economically leveled as the underclass. This pattern has however suggested that class was a powerful determinant for the African American upward mobility. In their article, Carbado and Gulati use intersectionality to explore the meaning of class of the Africa Americans. They also pay attention to the context of education, which has been the hope for upward mobility for the black African males in the last ten years.
Social Class and Education
The model of race and class does not have the same meaning for members of the different ethnic group. Division between the black middle class and the udder class existed within the African America since slavery. This is evident where the black people by their blood relation to the white people and light skin got some privileges such as freedom and training in their skills. This brought about black upper class, which consisted of bankers, entrepreneurs, and other professionals. These elites later embarked on a political project hoping to leave the economic mobility for the black men (Carbado & Gulati, 36). Therefore, their ideology held that the blacks African males would progress if only they adopted the class and culture of the white people. Through these ideologies, upward mobility would, therefore, follow due to the attainment of middle-class behaviors and ethics thus equating material things with social and cultural practices of class.
Despite the class divisions and political projects to on the black people, they have always enjoyed less economic privileges than their White counterparts have. For example, the black families who are termed as middle-class lag behind regarding accumulated wealth than their counterparts. They are also not offered protection against downward mobility. Due to this, the African black men have preserved their race consciousness as economically and socially oppressed. This is reflected on the ongoing discriminations experienced by the Africa Americans as in the past ten years, only a few male African men have succeeded to move up in the social and economic ladder. However, in the past few years, the African Americans have navigated education towards the objective of upward mobility.
According to, (Noble, Farah, & McCandliss, 44), upward mobility comes with the desire to achievements in economy and higher social achievements. Therefore, education is one of the many factors that inhibit progress in the economy. In the past few years, little was known about the black Africans males since social mobility was ruled by social structure. In some of the studies, African American was not comfortable due to their class and race even though the doors for colleges and schools were open. However, in the past ten years, the black African males have become aware of the relationship between education and upward mobility and therefore the black’s children enrollment have increased in schools. Efforts of some several organizations that identify gifted children in the inner city have helped the black African men to enroll their children in schools (Noble, Farah, & McCandliss, 24). Even though the black students face difficulties at school such as the white children accepting them, due to racism and class, this has helped to bring emphasis on racial differences, which are caused by class differences. However, even with the challenges in the elite, the black students turn to each other. They maintained academic identities though these did not make it easier to the rough of upward mobility. However, the black African men want the best for their children in the future, and this has increased the number of children enrolled in schools and colleges, (Noble, Farah, & McCandliss, 21).
Discrimination
Although there have been some advantages in the labor force minorities of racial minorities, significant inequality remains. The black African men are twice unemployed than the whites, and their wages lag behind as well. This has evidently shown how discrimination has played a role in effects of upward mobility. According to, (Pager, & Shepherd, 44), the black African men are motivated to work hard in terms of the more salaries they earn. Therefore, in the past ten years, the black African men who have achieved upward mobility are aware that they have to maintain and put more effort in their work. By working harder, they can maintain their social-economic class, avoid house discrimination, and avoid higher rejection rates as well as loan defaults due to high interest’s rates (Pager, & Shepherd, 47). The black men have a high force to work hard to meet their family’s basic needs.
Intergroup threat and attitude among black African males is the reasons and principals of upward mobility. According to, (Riek, Gaertner, & Mania, 33) moving from a lower economic standard to a high social, economic class is faced with challenges such as reassurance from various groups. The black men who have maintained the upward mobility in the past 10 years have faced challenges since many people have negative effects towards poverty. This has affected the relationship between communities as well as aggressiveness from the outer group communities (Riek, Gaertner, & Mania, 13).
African American looks down upon women from other ethnic groups. They associate success with a man being masculine. However, on the other hand, the number of African black men in the manufacturing companies believes that masculinity is associated with social class (Sanchez, Liu, Leathers, Goins, & Vilain, 28). In the past few years, the white men were given higher positions in companies while the black men remained at the lower level despite their skills and knowledge. However, due to the male dominant sectors through upward mobility, there have been combined efforts to open up institutional space to promote the African black men (Sanchez, Liu, Leathers, Goins, & Vilain, 16). These will help manage the issue of racism, negative attitudes towards people of color and discrimination. However, we cannot ignore the relevance of class differences as it helps people to understand the consequences of racial oppression in America, even if this issue has been a violate one among black Americans.