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Praise

“Narrating original data on race, class, and consumption, Black Privilege is one of those rare studies that leave an indelible impression on readers’ minds.”
— William Julius. Wilson, Lewis P. and L. Geyser University Professor, Emeritus, Harvard University
“Making skillful use of the narratives of young Black professionals to illustrate that it’s possible to be able to afford a lifestyle of considerable luxury and still cultivate bonds of racial solidarity across class lines, Black Privilege is a crucial intervention in the study of Black life, as well as class and culture in the U.S.”
— Mary Pattillo, author of Black On The Block, Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University
“A rich and nuanced portrait of the black middle class. Pittman Claytor’s insightful analysis should be read widely by college students and wider audiences, for it skillfully and beautifully mobilizes the sociological imagination to make the familiar and taken-for-granted visible.”
— Michèle Lamont, co-author of Getting Respect, Professor of Sociology and of African and African American Studies and the Robert I. Goldman Professor of European Studies at Harvard University.
“In this compelling ethnographic account of middle-class Blacks in New York City, Pittman Claytor breaks new ground in the study of black cultural capital and the complex ways her subjects use lifestyle practices to navigate race and class. A major contribution to race, consumption, class, and urban studies. A must-read and must-teach.”
— Juliet Schor, author of After the Gig, Professor of Sociology, Boston College
 

book description


New York City has the largest population of Black Americans out of any metropolitan area in the United States. It is home to a steadily rising number of socio-economically privileged Blacks. In Black Privilege: Modern Middle-Class Blacks With Credentials And Cast To Spend, Pittman Claytor examines how this economically advantaged group experiences privilege, having credentials that grant them access to elite spaces and resources with which they can purchase luxuries, while still confronting persistent anti-black bias and racial stigma.


Whether it is the majority white Wall Street firm where they're employed, or the majority black Baptist church where they worship, questions of class and racial identity are equally on the minds of middle class black New Yorkers. Often, they have to navigate divergent social worlds that demand, at times, middle-class sensibilities, pedigree, and cultural acumen; and at other times pride in and connection with other blacks. In Black Privilege, Pittman Claytor illustrates the many ways that middle-class Blacks strive to be unapologetically black while living in a society where anti-black bias prevails.