Talk about overstating the obvious! Not All Black People Think A Like-News at 11-Class Divisions in the Hood?

The above video encapsulates just one (American vs. Caribbean) of a myriad of divisions among people of color residing in the U.S. I just happened to come across an article in today's Philadelphia Daily News that highlighted a recent poll determining that there is are sharp demarcation within Black culture based on class/social standing. The general purpose of this blog-the both positive and negative reaction it has engendered also denotes this selfsame factionalism. It is ironic that for all the talk of trying to come together as a race perhaps a failure of cohesion is the root symptom of the larger issue-respecting and promoting diversity within the African diasporic experience. Here's a snippet from the Philly Daily News article:

Black people in America are starting to become more divided by their class than united by their race.

In fact, the gulf in attitudes and lifestyles between the growing ranks of the African-American middle class and blacks who are economically disadvantaged is becoming so large that 37 percent of all U.S. blacks now don't think they can be viewed as one race anymore.

That is one of the key - and stunning - findings of a sweeping poll of more than 3,000 American adults, including more than 1,000 black people, conducted last month by the Philadelphia-based Pew Research Center.

"What we're really talking about is class," said Molefi Kete Asante, professor at Temple University's African American Studies Department and noted author. "There are some people who don't live or operate in the African-American community because they are in a community of rich people, whether they are white, black, Japanese or Latino. They are just in a whole different world from the rest of us."

And economic trends are likely exacerbating that divide.

According to one study, the number of African-American households that make $75,000 to $99,999 a year quadrupled in the United States from 1967 to 2003.

When asked whether the values of middle-class and poor blacks become more similar or more different, 61 percent of the African-Americans surveyed said "more different." Majorities of white and Hispanic respondents agreed with that. And the divide was greater among younger blacks.

But A. Bruce Crawley, the businessman who was a founder of the Philadelphia African American Chamber of Commerce, argued that "if you are visibly black, if you have all the outward manifestations of being from Africa and you live on the Main Line, you may not think you are of the same social class as an African-American in South Philly but it would be difficult for you to be confused that you are African-American."

Click on the link below for the article in its entirety:

Poll sees class division among blacks