Why can’t you find the Black middle class in Pittsburgh? I recently read a portion of a debate about the lack of Black middle class in Pittsburgh on Facebook. It was from a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story about Black middle class people in Pittsburgh; or rather the lack of one. The comment went like this:
“Very few of my friends that stayed in Pittsburgh really made anything of themselves—they are either struggling or just trying to make it. The ones that I know that have left have had more success as far as the professional ranks,” posted one person.
There was one reply to that post that said, “We’re in a city without a Black middle class, which leads to lack of political clout and influence. Our neighborhoods are besieged by poverty and its outgrowths (crime, poor education system, single parent households).”
“Hold up, wait a minute.” I took offense to that reply. I know a lot of people that I consider middle class. I know a lot of accomplished people––homeowners, business owners and some very educated people––that we feature right here, on the pages of the New Pittsburgh Courier. So this made me curious, what makes one middle class, in general, not Black or White? According to CBS Money Watch and a Pew research study, a median household income of $54,510 is middle class. This income can vary depending on where you live. Homeownership has long been a hallmark of the middle class. In a 2013 speech, President Barack Obama called it “the most tangible cornerstone that lies at the heart of the American Dream, at the heart of middle-class life.”
Nine out of 10 Americans said a secure job is essential to being in the middle class, some also added health insurance to that. Hmmm, no wonder it is such a hot button topic. Investing for golden years is important to American’s middle class as well as a college education.
Americans used to think that a college education was more essential for the middle-class label. In 1991, nearly half of those surveyed said a college education was important to the middle class. That number dropped to 37 percent in 2012, according to Pew. And here is something that may surprise you about a middle class label, a family vacation…it shows the family has disposable income.
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