An ancient clash between class and cash

August 27, 12:28 PM Houston Black Culture & Traditions ExaminerSharon Watkins Jones



In an article published in New York Magazine’s Summer Guide 2009, popular culture journalist, Touré, reported that not all residents of Martha’s Vineyard were impressed by the vacation plans of President and First Lady Obama. In particular, some African American residents of the Oak Bluffs community were less than bowled over by news of a Presidential visit to their nook. Apparently Ivy League degrees are easily trumped by Oak Bluffs pedigrees.

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A long-time resident of the Oak Bluffs community, in response to a possible visit by the Obama family, was reported by Touré to have commented,
“Obama is more a man of the people. He doesn’t seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn’t; she is basically a ghetto girl. That’s what she says—I’m just being sociological. She grew up in the same place Jennifer Hudson did. She hasn’t reached out to the social community of Washington, and people are waiting to see what they’ll do about that.”

Truth be told, the first blacks populating the community, in the late 19th century, were the laundresses, maids, cooks, butlers and drivers of vacationing white families. That being said, how silly is it, that any frequenter of Oak Bluffs would attempt to reduce the President of the United States of America and his wife to social pariahs? Notwithstanding educational and professional achievement, shouldn’t being LEADER of the FREE WORLD safely place you and your loved ones at the top of the list of the most elite? Who died and left that clueless Oak Bluffs vacationer Head-Nword-in-Charge-of-Admission-to-the-Club?

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Even in less than opulent communities, people are prone to delineate the haves and have-nots (or those who have-a-little-less) among themselves by the way they look, live or leisure. In some black social circles, it matters a great deal how your family exhibits their level of class and acceptance. Do you know your place?

Perhaps you should ask yourself a few of the following questions:
Do your children attend public or private schools?
Do you allow your kids to play with friends at the Boys and Girls Club or only at Jack and Jill-sponsored activities?
Do you belong to a bowling league or a country club?
Is your family’s worship experience lively and noisy or do you require a quiet, more refined spiritual jaunt on Sunday morning?
Do you host parties or soirees?
Do you own bling or jewelry?
Are you a Mason or Eastern Star, or do you belong to a fraternity or sorority? Are you both?
Are you an Heir-o-Link? Do you know what that means?
Do you live in the city (preferably inside The Loop) or are you suburban?
Are you a first-generation college graduate or do you have multi-generational ties to your alma mater?
Is your money old, or are you nouveau riche?
Would any among your current social circle have affiliated themselves with your grandparents or great-grandparents?

Are you offended yet?

The word "class" has several meanings and connotations, and focusing on the social pedigree of the president and first lady betrays a LACK of class.

I guess snobbery crosses all demographics.

in every "culture"..Humans are odd:(

hell even my people have strict structures and i can guarentee that you wont find a group looked lower upon than us, and even i find some other people without class, so i agree people are odd. But thats what makes us all interesting...

Bigotry knows no race color or creed.

Fuck em and the horse they rode in on.

:sigh:

Every minority race, religious, ethnic, etc., group has 'em.

I remember a friend telling me that she was denied rushing for a sorority in her elite black college because, quite literally, her skin was 'darker than a paper bag.'

I told her we proles need to stick together.

I still think so.

classily,
Bright