Up the Hill: The Familial-institutional Reproduction of the Black Upper-middle Class

Abstract

This article explores the distinct social reproductive practices of the Black upper-middle class. In particular, this study focuses on the role of community organizations in socializing the collective habitus of a community at the intersection of Blackness and class privilege. I draw on interview data from members of one Black upper-middle class organization, Jack and Jill of America Inc., to identify how families and institutions collaborate to socialize children into a particular raced-classed habitus, passing on ideologies, discursive habits, and behavioral strategies aimed at producing citizens who are both culturally empathetic and socioeconomically mobile. I find that mothers rely on the blurred boundaries between family and social organizations to legitimate and reinforce the lessons taught at home. In particular, mothers explicitly socialize identity and affinity within a racial community while simultaneously socializing implicit, but powerful, behavioral habits related to social class.