Customer Reviews

The Rage of a Privileged Class: Why Are Middle-Class Blacks Angry? Why Should America Care?

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a must read for those interested in race and race-relations, especially in the corporate world. Cose is an excellent writer, and I found the book very difficult to put down. Through interviews with successful Black lawyers, journalists, and corporate executives, Cose illustrates that material success does not render racial prejudice and discrimination impotent in the lives of people of color.

Cose sums up the central problem for Blacks in the corporate world as follows: "[S]enior corporate executives and senior partners in law firms are ... expected to conform to a certain image. And though their positions may not require golden hair and blue eyes, they do require the ability to look like--and be accepted as--the ultimate authority. To many Americans that image still seems fundamentally incongruous with kinky hair and black skin."

In other words, even the most successful African Americas cannot escape the American racial paradigm, which perceives character, merit, and prestige through a distorting lens of color.

One minor weakness of the book is Cose's tendency to focus on African American men; women comprise a minority of his interviews. Also, while many white collar African Americans work in the less ruthless public sector, Cose gives them short shrift.

For the reader uncomfortable with free-market capitalism, some of the interviewees may come off as materialistic and self-interested "company" men whose assimilationist values are defined by White corporate America. Therefore, at times it may be difficult to feel compassion for some of the men. For example, many seem to assume their credentials and paychecks actually make them better people than "ordinary" folks and are frustrated that assimilation and corporate success has not earned them more privileged treatment. (It is ironic that about the time African Americans broke into the corporate world, it was becoming less hierarchical in organization and more egalitarian in style--e.g., laterally organized teams, "business casual" dress, use of first names for even senior executives, etc. These changes mean promotions do not necessary result in substantially higher prestige within the office environment.)

That said, the book is an important corrective to such works as W. J. Wilson's THE DECLINING SIGNIFICANCE OF RACE, which downplays the importance of race and racism in favor of a class-centered model. For you folks who feel your office is immune to racial discrimination and prejudice, I challenge you to read this book and see if you don't change your mind.

Ellis Cose has written brilliantly with regard to the American Dilemma. This is without a doubt his best work. Cose has interviews with successful African-American men and women, including lawyers and corporate executives. What comes forth is a searing indictment of our society, and a warning with regard to (as James Baldwin wrote more than a generation ago) "the fire next time".

A central theme of the work makes clear that regardless of the rate of one's acknowledges material success; racial prejudice remains one of if not the most pervasive and oppressing impacts on the lives of people of color in this society.

"What is there to be angry about?", one may ask. Our President enjoys the benefits which have flowed to him solely due to his Father's success at Yale. At the same time, he decries as "unfair" a Law School's use of race to assist in determining which members of this generation will get to enjoy the same benefit. One person is unabashed about his ability to enjoy the blessings of an accident of birth. Another is challenged and denigrated for the temerity of seeking a corner of the same benefit.

Sometimes, seeing someone else explain the problem makes it not necessarily easier to deal with, but easier to understand (I guess in some way that leads to being easier to deal with). Often as I read this, I thought "yeah".

If the "privileged class", those who by virtually every yardstick appear to be "making it" (and have the most invested in this society) have this much rage, the feeling which is pervasive throughout much of the throughout the rest of Black America is something which must be resolved.

Anyone who thinks that we have got this problem of race in America solved ought to read this book.

I read this book about a year after it first came out, but returned to it today after reading a New York Times Magazine piece on how Citigroup CEO Sandy Weill made it to the top. The reason the article made me pull Cose's book out of my bookcase again was because over and over again it described traits in Weill that experience taught me, and Cose's book confirmed would have resulted in the end of his career if he had been an Afro-American male: brash self-confidence; the tendency to explode in tirades at associates then at subordinates but make up with them with no dire effect on his career progress; a love of taking risks, etc. My own experience in the world of corporate journalism had long ago taught me that if an Afro-American male expects to survive in the corporate world, the last thing he better be is a brash, self-confident, risk taker (that will automatically get him labeled as arrogant), or a person who shows any sign of a temper (he'll be accused of an inability to get along with others or work in a team).

And Cose's book is filled with interviews and observations from Afro-Americans in banking, law, etc. who describe the destruction or paralysis of their careers for the same reason I left corporate journalism. All of this coupled with the lack of access to the level of capital some of our Caucasian counterparts get access to (Weill started on his road to becoming a man worth over $1 billion today by borrowing $30,000 from his mother in 1960 as his share in helping launch a financial services firm; $30,000 in 1960 is probably the same as at least $100,000 in 2000; and how many Afro-Americans can go to mommy or daddy for that kind of money?), makes for an intractablility to the Afro-American predicament that is rarely recognized in the on-going and exhausted study of the effects of race in this culture.

Add to this the preconcieved notion in corporate America that Afro-Americans simply aren't intelligent enough to handle "real work" as the subjects of Cose's book point out over and over again, and it makes a person wonder how an Afro-American can ever acheive his full potential. The insidious and subtle compromises we have to make in virtually all fields except basketball, rap, and football, are so daunting that I am now convinced that it is EXTREMEMLY DIFFICULT for any Afro-American to make a major mark in this culture and also escape major psychological damage.

The pity is that Cose's book is not treated as perhaps the most crucial examination now in published book form of the issue of why Afro-Americans have problems in this culture even after being provided the best educational opportunities. Indeed I had experience with some rather well-known neoconservatives who dismissed this book because Cose talked to, among others, personal friends in compiling his observations. That anyone would qualify that as a reason to dismiss his findings indicates the depth of the dissonance on this subject between intelligent Afro-Americans and a lot of allegedly intelligent and respected Caucasians. Which doesn't bode well for the future of race relations. Unfortunately, as a previous reviewer noted, the people who have read and will continue to read this book are principally the people who already know the extent to which it is telling the truth about life for even the most ambitious, intelligent, hard-working Afro-Americans.

Ellis Cose presents a thoughtful, well researched book that investigates the complex nuances of racial discrimination. Cose chooses to focus in his book on middle and upper middle class blacks, who show the most dissatisfaction with their social and economic standing according to his research. The feeling of exclusion among this group of people runs deep, whether social exclusion in the mostly-white neighborhoods where many of the people interviewed for this book live, racial exclusion from other members of their race who do not enjoy the same economic standing, or professional exclusion from the track that leads to corporate success.

Cose begins by presenting several stories of middle class blacks who, for one reason or another, have a reason to be dissatisfied with their position in life. What is most striking about these stories is that they are not rich with examples of egregious racial discrimination (though a couple of them are), but that they are mostly stories of affluent blacks who have more or less "made it," in spite of having a deck stacked against them. It is here that Cose introduces his first common theme: though the people interviewed for his book were more successful than most Americans, they have no idea where they may have ended up had they been given a chance to fulfill their potential.

During the course of his numerous interviews with middle class black professionals, Cose found a curious pattern. There were approximately 12 common threads among the many stories he heard. The author named these common threads "The Dozen Demons." They were, in essence, the most common hurdles to the success of today's black professional. Managers would do well to study these 12 complaints, for they are not what most would guess them to be. In fact, more introspctive white managers might find that they unconciously engage in undermining behavior every day, without even knowing it. In this respecet, the book serves as a valuable tool for self-aware people who accept that racism exists, yet do not want to accept that condition.

The central theme of the book is that modern racism is less about hatred and hostility than it is about condescension. Since the implements of racism now have a decidedly lower profile, it is more difficult for people who are not the victims of racism to show much empathy or acknowledgement. That being the case, middle class blacks have generally tended to find that being vocal about racism is not a particularly effective means of creating dialogue. Instead, Cose observes, they tend to keep a low profile, stay outside the mainstream, and distance themselves emotionally from their white counterparts in order to cope. Unfortunately, many white people mistake this reaction for "reverse discrimination," or anti-white prejudice.

Rather than eliminate racism, it seems that Americans have instead eliminated many of the effective means of protesting, arguing against, or even identifying racism. It is becoming more fashionable to insist that race does not matter rather than start any meaningful discussion of the remaining efforts necessary to eliminate racism. When someone treats a black person with respect as an individual, it is a deed to be rewarded with praise. Yet white people expect that same treatment as a social norm.

Cose theorizes that the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s had the unfortunate effect of creating a great deal of "White Guilt". That white guilt is responsible for policies that see minorities as targets of charity, which serves to reinforce the low expectations and perception of laziness that unconciously pervade the minds of many white people.

The problem is not that people do not feel guilty enough, it is that they are in denial. Cose's work goes a long way toward opening eyes, if we can set our fear aside long enough to take a very hard look at ourelves. Reading this book is a good start.

Since the first term of the Reagan administration, tacit resentment of Affirmative Action initiatives has been replaced by unequivocated vocal opposition lead by white males who feel they are hapless victims of 'reverse discrimination.' While it is ludicrous to have expected the vestigal effects of centuries of institutionalized subjugation and prejudicial practices could be displaced by any combination of legislation, enlightened multicultural ideologies and enhanced educational opportunities in less than one generation, the arguments against continuation of structured programs to advance minority access, most prevalently in employment, housing and education have also inferred a degree of perplexity in the white community as to why so many middle class blacks are dissatisfied. The pseudo-displaced white male is expeditious in disaffirming any personal connectivity to the legacy of slavery while in the same breath, adamantly professing all blacks are denigrated by the actions of a small percentage who may behave in an antisocial manner, but failing to grasp the inconsistency in the contrasting positions. The *disaffected* white fails to understand why upper class and middle class blacks, ostensibly the socio-economic groups that most benefited from equal opportunity legislation enacted from the mid-fifties forward is discontented. THE RAGE OF A PRIVILEGED CLASS is an important work in the effort to eludicate a multipicity of issues black professionals are obliged to confront without sanctuary each and every day. With unrestricted clarity, the author, journalist Ellis Cose delineates exactly why so many relatively successful black professionals still feel a degree of disaffectedness, often in proportions exceeding similar expressions of disenchantment voiced by the so-called black underclass.

Though based predominantly on anecdotal examples provided by a limited range of corporate professionals, jurists, academicians and journalists, Mr. Cose clearly indicates why progress in narrowing the racial chasm has been largely superficial. In case after case, respondents point out the multifaceted stress factors that eventually present themselves to any black american in a presumptively integrated environment. In the preponderance of occurrences, the respondent was also the sole representation of organizational diversity. For nearly all, Affirmative Action has served as a double-edged sword, facilitating entry unto the perimeters of previously closed circles of influence but encumbered with the stigma of second class consideration, irrespective of exemplary individual achievement and competency. The incumbent can never rest assured evaluation of one's capability will be based on personal performance nor is there any assurance one will be allowed to perform under the unbiased tenets of a meritocracy. Concerted efforts toward assimilation are no panacea either, typically failing to generate the aspired result while tending to alienate the aspirant from his or her ethnic base, and fostering perjorative expressions of disdain among racial peers.

Over centuries, black americans have manifested an indefatigible optimism in the belief egalitarianism and deontological rectitude would compel the white community to adhere the principles of equality and equitable treatment of all peoples regardless of race or ethnicity only to experience rejection or worse, condescension, at every entreaty. In this poignant but incisive account Mr. Cose refuses to allow his personal subjectiveness overwhelm journalistic impartiality. He addresses all of the classic cliches and stereotypes endemic to conservatives and reactionaries...and liberals, who endeavor to reverse whatever minimal advancements have been achieved primarily over the last forty years. It is significant that the majority of current promulgations like the vituperative polemics of "scholars" such Michael Levin (WHY RACE MATTERS) are categorically refuted although this book was published well before most of them. In his text, Mr. Cose has emphasized the fact that in large part the justifications espoused to support insidious interpretations of racial diversity are not new ideas, discoveries, or materially factual, simply reformulations of venerable trivalities that will not accept a quiet death.

I also found it mildly intriguing that 100 years after W.E.B. Dubois submitted his premise the elites of black society had a responsibility to marshall the course of racial advancement, we now find influential political leaders like former Senator Moynihan proselytizing the doctrine as their own, attempting to impose accountability on the black middle class, but assiduously avoiding any personal population group responsibility for action.

This book, published five years ago, is a masterful piece of work. It took tremendous courage for the successful black professionals depicted in the book to share their career experiences.

For those who deny the existence of a glass ceiling in the corporate world, reading this book will clearly show how it works, although may be uncomfortable reading for many.

Although the book suggests that white Americans should care about the issues raised in this book, I believe that any black professional aspiring to a professional career in North America (including Canada) would benefit from reading about the dues paid by other so-called successful black professionals and executives.

To me, a Human Resources Manager, "Rage" is no less than an examination of the labour market forces that lead to, and perpetuate discrimination.

To black professionals who are between jobs, it provides an understanding of some of the forces that may have led to their situation, and sheds new light on the concept of "networking", and how it can work against blacks who may be banned from belonging to certain clubs or organizations.

If I were teaching aspiring Human Resources professionals, I would make sure that this book was part of their reading list. I strongly believe that any intelligent and informed discussion of race and its effect on the ability of blacks to close the wage gap on equally educated whites would only be possible after a careful reading of this extraordinary expose.

For example, it is hard to ignore example after example of succesful black professionals whose competence and right to hold powerful positions is questioned.

It is a sensitive, well-written book, that does not accuse all white Americans as being racist. At the same time, I would be surprised if anyone seriously repudiated the systemic forces described in this book that reveal the difficulty blacks have in acheving career success equivalent to whites with similar skills, education and intellect.

It is a book that I predict will serve as a tool for many black parents to prepare their children on the realities of working in a society where whites (especially males) are still overwhelmingly in positions of power and influence over blacks.

White America, on the other hand, will largely ignore or dismiss this book, which is a profound shame in my opinion.

Brings back life of the 50s when racism was rampant and emphasizes (with some exceptions) post racism is a myth. A good reminder that there is much for all races to do to improve the lot of all Americans.

i recommend this book and have purchased it for others...the writing is clear and not bogged down in the presentation of boring stats...the writer spares the reader of this...though he does all of the work to substantiate his assessments...i could relate to the rage of the middle class...

i've suffered many of the same slings and arrows aimed at blks in amer. i'm expected to dress-up to shop at a discount chain store, in 2011. as soon as, i enter an art supply super store, i'm followed... security offers to assist me, but admits he doesn't have a clue... loudly, admonishing tone, in front of other shoppers...a women who can't speak english feels so free that she identifies me as a "type" and let's me know that she will follow me every step...and will summon the police if i make one false move... both instances are before i begin to shop...i am still angry as hell and sorry that i didn't sue...if for no more than principle...i could go on and on...i'm also tired and demand, verbally and in writing, that my rights be respected...but yes, i'm still enraged.

there was one aspect or reference in the book that left me confused ...and that is seemingly, private and ivy league schooling...equals privileged class...but at the same time middle class...confusing.

i was taught that the differentiation of class, for blacks was not the same as for whites...considering the ceilings placed on black accomplishments...who promised those blacks of "privilege" that the rules of class and discrimintion were going to be relaxed or removed...for them?

i'm old enough to have known blks. who were pre-60's ivy league, they had special privileges...but they never expected america to share its wealth or acknowledge their accomplishments...they lived in my neighborhood, shopped on the ave., voted in my district and some sent their children to neighborhood schools...they knew class lines differed esp. regarding race.

i felt that there was something related to class that i was supposed get by reading between the lines...but the lines were skewed... privileged and middle classes are separate and distinct...esp., when race is a part of the equation...expect that the rules will not apply.

i recommend the book, esp. to "privileged" blacks...they may find that their feelins of frustration are real and shared...the reading may give insight to other classes who're experiencing similar frustrations...what would happen, if they banned together to demand fairness for all...

straight-forward reading, except for the lines that separate privileged and middle classes?

I wanted to read this book several years ago, but I was too busy being like the people in his book to read it. It's easy to digest; I finished it in less than a day. It is a better read for some white person looking for enlightenment than for one of us enraged, discontented, over-educated folk.

this book is very eye opening.cuz it asks now what? how about respect? educated and doing well don't have to take nothing from nobody don't have to harm anybody.don't fit in the burbs don't fit in the ghetto where are you suppose to be? ellis cose answers the questions the best that he can.it's a very important book for all to study and ponder.you do the right thing and still aren't accepted? this book is a great discussion.