Although past research on the African American community has focused primarily on issues of discrimination, segregation, and other forms of deprivation, there has always been some recognition of class diversity within the black population. The New Black Middle Class in the Twenty-First Century is a significant contribution to the continuing study of black middle class life. Sociologist Bart Landry examines the changes that have occurred since the publication of his now-classic The New Black Middle Class in the late 1980s, and conducts a comprehensive examination of black middle class American life in the early decades of the twenty-first century. Landry investigates the educational and occupational attainment, income and wealth, methods of child-rearing, community-building priorities, and residential settlement patterns of this growing yet still-understudied segment of the U.S. population.   

BART LANDRY is emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of The New Black Middle Class as well as Black Working Wives: Pioneers of the American Family Revolution. 

"The New Black Middle Class in the Twenty-First Century is an important piece of scholarship that details the characteristics, experiences, and concerns of a still understudied subset of the U.S. Black population."

"There is no better way to understand the new Black middle class than to hear directly from them. Landry brings statistics to life and offers an important story about the potential of strong and economically stable Black communities."

"Highly recommended."