Title Moving up, moving out : the rise of the black middle class in Chicago / Will Cooley

Published DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, [2018]

Click on the following:
JSTOR eBooks
EBSCO eBooks

Copies

Description 1 online resource (x, 183 pages) Contents Hustlers and strivers -- Moving on out -- Can the middle class save Chicago? -- Black Americans in white collars Summary Will Cooley discusses the damage racism and discrimination have exacted on black Chicagoans in the twentieth century, while accentuating the resilience of upwardly-mobile African Americans. Cooley examines how class differences created fissures in the black community and produced quandaries for black Chicagoans interested in racial welfare. While black Chicagoans engaged in collective struggles, they also used individualistic means to secure the American Dream. Black Chicagoans demonstrated their talent and ambitions, but they entered through the narrow gate, and whites denied them equal opportunities in the educational institutions, workplaces, and neighborhoods that produced the middle class. African Americans resisted these restrictions at nearly every turn by moving up into better careers and moving out into higher-quality neighborhoods, but their continued marginalization helped create a deeply dysfunctional city. African Americans settled in Chicago for decades, inspired by the gains their forerunners were making in the city. Though faith in Chicago as a land of promise wavered, the progress of the black middle class kept the city from completely falling apart. In this important study, Cooley shows how Chicago, in all of its glory and faults, was held together by black dreams of advancement. Moving Up, Moving Out will appeal to urban historians and sociologists, scholars of African American studies, and general readers interested in Chicago and urban history Analysis racism in Chicago, class and race, Chicago neighborhoods, African Americans in Chicago Notes Print version record Subject Social classes -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century Segregation in education -- Illinois -- Chicago -- 20th century Middle class African Americans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- History Middle class African Americans Race relations Segregation in education Social classes Social conditions SUBJECT Chicago (Ill.) -- Social conditions -- 20th century Chicago (Ill.) -- Race relations -- 20th century Subject Illinois -- Chicago Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781609092436 1609092430 9781501757303 150175730X

  Permalink