Did African-Americans form a class identity? In other words, did African-Americans grow angry with American society because they were poor or because they are black? African-Americans have never formed a class identity. In the 1920’s, in places like Chicago, white labor was still controlled by ethnic groups, and even though ethnicity was being challenged by mass culture, African-Americans remained isolated from the normal forces of class formation–industrialization and labor–because of racism. In fact, the only institutions that thrived in the African-American community were the segregated ones (like the church).
African-Americans were not just another ethnic group. No urban ethnic group experienced the frequency and severity of prejudice that African-Americans knew. Ethnic groups could climb the socio-economic American ladder. Not so for many African-Americans. Or, at least it was more difficult because of racism. For no other group in America was residential segregation increased so uniformly.
