the changing significance of race and class in an African‐American community

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The post—civil rights era has witnessed the growth of the black middle class and increased class stratification in African‐American communities. This article examines how state‐sponsored reforms associated with civil rights era activism restructured political power in an African‐American community, shifting the focus of neighborhood activism from institutions and strategies that emphasized a race‐based definition of political interests and identity toward those privileging the discourse and claims of the black middle class. It argues that civil rights era reforms disproportionately empowered middle‐class homeowners, enabling them to translate economic gains into political power and, in the process, to rearticulate the significance of race and class in community politics. [African‐American communities, black middle class, race and class, black class stratification]