Why class should not be ignored in our conversations about race - Worthie Springer

"When he first arrived, taking over a program that had been up and running for more than two decades, he had grand plans of taking poor black and Hispanic kids from urban America, kids who had somehow learnt Math and Science in what are all but war zones —and give them the boost. Within his first year, he'd saw he'd been dreaming. A few kids he had chosen from those bleak spots were much further behind academically than he'd ever imagined. And they're further behind now than they were then. It would take two years of tutoring, not six weeks, to bring some of the inner cities' brightest up to a level where they might be accepted into MIT. Their similarity to the polished, suburb-bred minority kids goes little more than skin deep."

-    A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League, Chapter 6

 If you've been reading or watching any of the discussions on race today, you'd no doubt notice how little is said about the variable of class, and how it plays a role in everything that matters. From college admissions to representation, to police shootings, and crime - class is a major factor that has been all too often forgotten in today's discourse on race in America. Not talking about class obscures the great differences that exist within groups. The differences between the ghetto and the suburbs, and the country and the city are very important. The modern refusal to speak about these class differences helps contribute to the idea that there is a proper way to be black.

Black life in the city is not the same as black life on a farm. Black life in the suburbs is different from black life in the ghetto. As a consequence, the problems, concerns, and interests will often differ. Does anyone really believe that working-class black people care much about how many black people are playing in the symphony? Does anyone really believe that middle-class black people have to worry about gang violence as much as poor black people do? Everyone knows the answers to these questions, but many of the commentators on race act as if these things are untrue.

The suburb-bred minorities like myself, do not have the same challenges as minorities from the inner city. I've never had the fear of being shot in my own neighbourhood. My neighbourhood is not heavily policed, and the only drug I've found in my neighbourhood is cannabis. Many people would respond to this by saying that even though there are minorities of different classes, that doesn't change the fact that they will face the similar implacable challenge of white supremacy and racism. Even though you're middle class, that will not deter the cops from profiling and killing you. Just because you’re middle class, this doesn't mean you're safe from the consequences of the history of slavery. While I understand the hurt and pain with which these objections are made, they underestimate the significance of class.

Let's first address the cops. For the past 8 years, since the death of Michael Brown, the cops have been the emotional fulcrum of race discourse. In these 8 years, how many of the African Americans in the plethora of videos since 2014 lived in the suburbs? The vast majority of them were either working-class or poor. George Floyd was not a man of means, neither was Philando Castile or Eric Garner. This fact matters. The black sons and daughters of bankers and software engineers are not just as likely to be shot as sons and daughters of janitors in poor neighbourhoods. These facts are important but are seldom acknowledged in the race discourse.

I, as a child of two middle-class parents, am less likely to be gunned down by cops, than a person from the inner city. As for the consequences of the history of slavery, and white supremacy, that didn't stop me from learning many languages, and being in graduate school. I'm studying Neuroscience and I can tell you that me being black has not precluded me. My blindness has been my great impediment, not my blackness.

Race is a factor in disparities, and talking about it is useful. However, not talking about class obscures the extent of race's importance. Class is important, and contributes to the differences between groups. This is why Will in The Fresh Prince of Bell Air is different from Carlton. If we keep ignoring these differences, and do not acknowledge the role class plays, then we will forever misunderstand the problems we're analysing, and consequently, come to mistaken conclusions.