Publié le 24/09/2010
Laurence NARDON

After hurricane Katrina in 2005, images of the miserable and abandoned black community of New Orleans surfaced. This portrait of a black underclass mired in poverty is not thoroughly representative of African Americans in the U.S., however.

A dynamic middle class is also present, and is more and more integrated in high-end service and financial jobs, while black cultural icons are idolized throughout the country. Despite such positive gains, however, the economic situation of this black middle class has weakened in the past 20 years.

 

This paper is published in French only - Les Noirs américains : Amour, gloire et pauvreté [1]