My relationship with the concept of class has been deeply nuanced and complex for the entirety of my life. This has stemmed largely from my experience being socialized in two post-slavery yet starkly contrasting societies. I spent my childhood and adolescence between two politically conscious households. Despite being surrounded by a largely Black community in Jamaica, where the race dialogue was not nearly as rampant as the United States, my family ensured that I knew the crucial intricacies of what it meant to be Black. Up until attending a well renowned public high school, I was never cognizant of my class status or privilege of any kind, and viewed my Black community as largely homogenous, despite physical differences.
I then noticed that students who came from private elementary institutions, like myself, were generally more reactive in class and kept up with the swift pace of instructors. Although admission to the institution implied similar basic cognitive capabilities amongst all admitted students, there was an inequality in the output of students depending on elementary education and socioeconomic background. I began to reason that this was a result of the levels of familial support afforded to students, and the stability of their home environment. Professional or college educated parents could generally afford to send their children to pursue private elementary education, and understood the academic sphere enough to cultivate a specific disposition in their children. Middle and upper class individuals disproportionately receive a college education relative to those in lower socioeconomic strata. This overlap of realities impacted me immensely.
It was at this point that I became aware of colorism within the Black community upon noticing the mannerisms of my high school teachers towards me, as opposed to other students of darker complexion with capabilities paralleling mine. Students of lighter complexion(indicative of non-Black ancestry), from private educational backgrounds and/or with wealthy or professional parents were expected to maximize their academic potential and were lauded by faculty. This disproportionality was evident in my peers who were of “lower” socioeconomic status and manifested in their attitudes of resignation, defeat and subsequent demotivation.
This domino effect of the higher class being motivated, lauded and respected whilst the lower class is expected to assimilate is evident in multiple of the texts which we have analyzed, including “The Moynihan Report” and “Momma’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe”. Hence, societal norms are generally strategized not only to naturalize the privileged, but suppress all who deviate.