How Middle-Class Black America Betrayed the Struggle for True Black Politics

In this video, I break down the tension between middle-class Black Americans and the poor—a division that’s quietly eroded Black unity for decades. Using a clip from the 1960s, I highlight how middle-class Black folks in Los Angeles openly resented Southern Black migrants, blaming them for disrupting their “progress.” This isn’t just history; this same class disdain is alive and well today, influencing how we view each other and how we vote. I also dive into Anton Daniels’ take on “social mobility,” which sounds more like “get away from poor Black people” than any real solution. While Daniels may think he’s talking strategy, this mindset reinforces the idea that Black pain and struggle are something to run from, not address. Then I tie it all back to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s The Other America speech, where he called out America’s addiction to exploiting poverty and Black trauma while pretending to champion progress. The truth is, we’ve let identity politics and classism replace real conversations about poverty, systemic oppression, and what it’s going to take to create lasting change. America profits off Black pain, and instead of channeling that pain into collective action, we’ve been divided by class and distracted by meaningless optics. This is a conversation we need to have. Why have we forgotten the people? Why have we abandoned poor Black folks when they are the backbone of the struggle? Let’s unpack how we got here, how middle-class respectability politics betrayed the fight, and how we can turn Black pain into political power. This isn’t just about race; it’s about humanity and accountability. #black #politics #america #thegreatestamericanalive