Grayson Perry's Big American Road Trip l Being Black and upper class in America

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[@mickeydemas]

This is my area. I’ve been around the Gold Coast for most of my life. Regardless of the negativity, I grew up in a place where blacks excelled at all costs . My family members were and are black: lawyers, doctors, politicians, teachers, astronauts, scientists, graduates, athletes, business owners, musicians, etc not because they believe themselves to be better but because they believe in bettering their communities. I am proud that I grew up in a place with a culture of black excellence and because of that I KNOW we gon be alright.

[@jesjess9444]

That is wonderful ❤️

[@edwarda2033]

What was negative about it? Sounds nice.

[@Michelle-pn9xt]

Everything a black person does is not about making the community better. Sometimes, we simply want a good life for our family just like everyone else.

[@mickeydemas]

@@Michelle-pn9xt I would argue that prioritizing a good life for your family DOES make the the community better. 💪🏽

[@robertridley9279]

​@Michelle-pn9xt that mentality is we haven't gotten anywhere as a group. We don't have the luxury of our most successful people being selfish.

[@plutobaby9996]

Something about black people succeeding against all odds is so inspiring ✨

[@jascam1]

Sadly a lot of Black male superstars still believe that once they achieve financial success the next thing to get is a white woman who the white man have on a pedestal as his prized possession. Little do they know that they’re still despised.

[@Strebor.11]

@@jascam1 🥂🥂

[@sjspaulding919]

The only problem with this series is that the episodes are too short! I would love to have heard more discussion, more in depth, more reflection!

[@nj1624]

OR above

[@mack-uv6gn]

Black people are diverse just like every other race, you have rich and poor, successful and unsuccessful etc.

[@balanced6935]

Yes but mostly the unssuccesful and poor story got to be told before

[@mack-uv6gn]

@@balanced6935 perhaps but being incognito about your wealth isn’t a bad thing. I prefer not to be a walking talking living breathing billboard if you get my meaning.

[@eazeyt1759]

True, but a lot of black peoples poverty/lack of success has to do with the centuries of oppression, violence, segregation, etc. not saying all black people would be well off/rich/etc. but a lot more would be.

[@mack-uv6gn]

@@eazeyt1759 welfare recipients in this country is white 48%, Hispanic 26%, black 23% and Asian is a rounding error. The old excuse of racism and oppression really doesn’t fly anymore. The news coverage of black peoples is biased for sure but that what gets good ratings and clicks. There are nearly 2 million black millionaires in the US. In 1980 you could count on one hand how many they were. A lot of blacks are doing well in America, they just not broadcasting and showing off. If you go to poor black neighborhoods it’s being oppressed by black gangs and drug dealers not white peoples.

[@stevensonjc21]

Oh no. So much in this to unpack. Where do i start?????

[@jamaalshelton6793]

Neighborhood they live in is nicknamed the Gold Coast. Wealthy Blacks gave it that name when they moved into those mansions in the 50’s

[@frankbannerman2037]

Gild coast, former name of Ghana my country... Wondering if there might be a connection

[@jaimarai6865]

@@frankbannerman2037 no there us no connection. Everything is not about africa.

[@Erika-be9hq]

@@frankbannerman2037 I was wondering that too!

[@frankbannerman2037]

@@jaimarai6865 no need to be rude, just answer the question like you have some sense please.

[@emerywills5814]

Gold Goast is California. Califia’s California.

[@nj1624]

I need to see the full story here... this seems VERY interesting

[@pearla4731]

Black woman from the project vs. whites woman from Harvard? Wow. You would actually make the reverse juxtaposition for a stronger point about class. The kids look so uncomfortable.

[@anthonylucas4901]

That wouldn’t be a stronger point in this case. From his perspective he is saying that he believes he would have more in common with the white woman that went to Philips Exeter than the black woman from the projects. His point was that class and socioeconomic status is more important than race. How could he make that point stronger by choosing and black woman from a similar socioeconomic background as himself?

[@balanced6935]

Most Kids feel unconfortable in front of a tv camera. Especially if told to act normal

[@nkrumabyrd]

The Weak are The Responsibility of The Strong. The Poor are The Responsibility of The Rich. The Ignorant are The Responsibility of The Wise. The Projects are The Responsibility of The Prosperous. His statement and his opinion on Harvard Vs. The Projects were insensitive and irresponsible. That's why kids from The Projects look up to Pimps and Drug Dealers instead of Prosperous People like this. It's extremely hurtful to watch an affluent Black man condescend belittle and marginalize the same communities from which he derives. Martin, Malcolm and Mandela could have sold out Their People and prospered financially, but they valued Their People more than the temporary profits promised by Their Oppressor. Honor and Legacy will always have more lasting value that mere money. F*#%K Harvard. Give me a kind, supportive, loving spouse from the same place that I'm from. The Projects. We'll work together to improve our financial condition while simultaneously staying committed to Our People and community.

[@Jo-bv3uc]

I tend to agree with Anthony Lucas on the race/class scenarios he presented, BUT what struck me was the odd timing of them cutting over to the children right after he said that. Made me wonder if that was a wink through edit. Of course, it might be my imagination. Fascinating program and I do wish it was longer.

[@gmoney537]

At the end of the day. Money hangs around money and those with money unite with each other to keep their money no matter if ones black white Asian Hispanic. It's always been about class

[@emerywills5814]

Incorrect. Is class and race. In the 21st century.

[@chrisreed3022]

I am English, and lived in Florida for three years and worked with young offenders. Not surprisingly they were many of them black. In conversations about inequality, much of what I was raised to understand through class in the UK was mirrored to me in the USA as race. Focussing on race is a way of dividing Americans. Class would unite them, which is why the issue of class is somehow suppressed.

[@ContrarianExpatriate]

Exactly! Race is used as the American proxy for class which is why affluent blacks are kept silent and invisible in the media.

[@zarategabe]

Americans are great at denying (because of the media) their own socio-economic problems. The corporate elite doesn't want working Americans to talk or think about class inequality.

[@jamaalshelton6793]

Race is class in the US. Racism is based on economics. Skin pigmentation is just one of the identifiers. There have always been over achieving and exceptional Black Americans. Has zero to do with America and more to do with Black American culture of over achieving and over striving

[@karimbennett5651]

Go back to England and stop pontificating about what you THINK you know about the racial divide in the U.S. you are basing your opinion off of your interactions with a tiny sampling of Foundational Black Americans who are not representative of anyone except their small social and academic cliques.

[@karimbennett5651]

@@ContrarianExpatriate, Most “affluent” Blacks are very vocal, demonstrative, and have and activist mindset. These people here, are the Boule. They are tiny minority within the minority of Foundational Black American who are financially secure. They are, mostly, irrelevant.

[@mrsfanky5687]

Interesting subject! PLEASE give us the full video of the documentation 🥺🥺

[@SheilaR.08]

Interesting. I want to see the full interview, not least because I'm a DC native. Love the bowties!!

[@nj1624]

CLICK ON THE LINK

[@darthmarticusLFC]

Fascinating.

[@tamikaqueen1203]

When Oprah talked about it they said be quiet

[@kevingrant4491]

I want more......good stuff.

[@99999racerx]

Wow...the Boule in their natural habitat.

[@zoot40n]

Who’s here after watching the Gilded Age?

[@KINGCABA-if4nk]

Yes, these are black elites descendent of generational wealth and power legacy. Our kind of people book from Lawrence Otis graham and Stephen birmingham certain people

[@CarmenBelcher]

“We know lots of other Black people like us…” This❣️

[@frednerk5959]

Sounds like "Trading Places"

[@sharongillesp]

I think it’s great to think you’re a “citizen of the world” but other realities are still there nonetheless. Some people don’t believe the world is round but flat. The reality is still there.

[@willpower3317]

I bet nothing bothers you more than blacks who don’t care about racism.

[@TheBLACKboard65]

@URBAN DWELLERS - 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@sugelanren]

I notice he didn't dress in his artistic garb for the upper class family, but went all out for the bikers... Almost like he was trying to garner a response from one he didn't want from another. Interesting

[@unclebobo9456]

Class will never trump race!!

[@joycewilson9016]

Racism is very much alive but does not mean you can't be successful my father retired black fireman captain president of black optimist club president of black fireman union started the black fireman union he owned his own businesses grocery stores hardware store restaurants we never did without anything I never went to all black school didn't grow up in projects and I have had white collar jobs in medical field and been discriminated against plenty of times all black people not poor or oppressed

[@foremostpoets]

The same answer in 2023 was not the same answer in 1923. God knows, Carter G Woodson took a major risk in 1933 just to write a book about this. "The Miseducation of the Negro." I'm still reading it like it's brand new.

[@sharongillesp]

It always surprises me when I hear how awful the Israelis treat the people of Palestine after what they went through during WW2 in Nazi Germany. I’ll leave you the reader to figure that out.

[@KINGCABA-if4nk]

Very random comment with have nothing do it this clip.

[@almanac4150]

@@KINGCABA-if4nk I believe the commentor is trying to make the point that race is what divides the people of the Palestinian region, as opposed to class.

[@vaughnpowell9331]

Same Cooke said a change gon come. Well, wouldn't ya know- he was right

[@willpower3317]

Class trumps race, and it always has.

[@gmoney537]

It's always been a class issue not race. Yes there is racism but if you have $$ you're treated differently

[@newmoneymarcus]

Amen!

[@briopalumpus8676]

i totaly disagree remeber the black wealthy class dont have a say on matters of law, the law can be used abritarily.

[@javionriley8739]

Not really!! Clearly you ain’t black Americans descendants of USA chattel slavery

[@briopalumpus8676]

@@javionriley8739 no im not a so called foundational black american.

[@NeisiKay]

They’re in the sunken place.

[@mja9376]

These are the black people you don't hear about. Fortunately there are a lot

[@emerywills5814]

They need to OPEN THEIR MOUTHS ABOUT THE GENOCIDE OF THEIR OWN.

[@c.t5136]

Finally, the truth is spoken. Excellent. 'wealthism' not racism.

[@alisonshimizu8064]

Isn't this the D.C. black elite? They are close to being 1%. That is a life that most Americans just don't have regardless of their ethnicity.

[@I_Am_NiiTA]

I don’t know much of my history. My mom was a foster child and my dad doesn’t care to search 😞

[@odewoleagunbiade6458]

He rang the bell with his middle finger! Watch him close.

[@MrSivram28]

you can tell the difference between upper class blacks and lower class. by the way the speak. i'm talking about old money blacks

[@bg5748]

Blacks....🙄

[@israeliana]

@@bg5748 that was the red flag

[@sharongillesp]

IF you’re from Atlanta. I’m African American from California and over the phone you would assume I was white. Now, here in Atlanta I’m seen as an anomaly. BUT there are so many African Americans who are bilingual…able to speak both the “queen’s language,” and Ebonics.

[@MrSivram28]

@@israeliana I'm also black, what's the problem? You have upper class and lower class whites, Asians etc.. stop being so sensitive about race

[@willpower3317]

@@MrSivram28 They have a problem with that but don’t mind being called the n word from here to Sunday.

[@MultiSerenity2009]

🕊 CERTAINLY I BELIEVE MYSELF A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD... I WILL NOT/DID NOT/CANNOT LIVE MY LIFE BEING A COLOR! 🕊

[@cityman-mv6st]

Beautiful family , however they share the same lack of insight and rigidity common in successful blk ppl , Oprah learned that the hard way in the incident that happened to her in Switzerland at the lv store a while back , or maybe they're just being politically correct...

[@firelordOzai3]

These people look like a 90s caricature of wealthy black people. Class solidarity is very strong with capitalists and for them, supersedes any solidarity with people with a shared racial background and a shared struggle because I’m sure they’d like to believe they are above that but it’s just self-deception. Race is one the many spectacles that stop the working class from consolidating and representing their own interests but that’s not to say it doesn’t matter at all. When they say at their level of society “you’re not allowed to use race as an excuse” I took exception to that and realised that these people haven’t bothered to educate theme themselves about the world we actually live in instead of the fantasy (I presume) generations of wealth allows them to indulge themselves in.

[@user-bz8zq4mk3l]

Lovely

[@teemadarif8243]

Well lol why does any family have photos of family members or events on a wall in their home? Because obviously they want to speak of their history and achievements.

[@emmanuelfaindanimwale4536]

Liberating

[@p5yearsago931]

1:32 YUPPPPPPPPPPP

[@jeremyhodge6216]

This video illustrates Black People can make it ☺️😉👌💯

[@D4n1t0o]

It's always class. Race is a diversion.

[@reds.a2076]

Race is class!! Duh!! Welcome to america

[@karimbennett5651]

It’s always race. Class is the diversion.

[@90210Skye]

@@karimbennett5651 it's both

[@zacquelinebaldwin2555]

I’m making a channel about Anti classism

[@eleeveeayees3425]

It's always both the race and class.

[@nightingaleofficial3604]

Class trumps race everywhere

[@emerywills5814]

Incorrect.

[@qw1205]

They are all very pale which as Beyoncé’s dad said , she wouldn’t have been as successful had she not been very pale

[@juliannakaberovsky4545]

You have this excellent black people and you have the others...

[@adventuresociety588]

Same as every other race.

[@c-st4r]

I bet this video gets removed by KZbin

[@annetteflowers5921]

They my Cousins?

[@emerywills5814]

Why are they quiet about what is happening to us.

[@odewoleagunbiade6458]

Something just dont add up here.

[@firelordOzai3]

I feel it too but I cannot put my finger on it

[@Justin-li8sx]

Dumbest question ever 3:15

[@Rjisawake]

🌟

[@jessbecool90]

What the hell??? Lol this is weird

[@edwarda2033]

Unfortunately the low end of black culture is causing a lot of mayhem at the moment.

[@emerywills5814]

There is no low end that is not funded by the state.

[@personalfunfest]

why is this even a story. class is class... although the people in this story are uncomfortably corny...

[@theduke6174]

It's important to show this, because Class is overlooked in America, it's always painting on race race RACE.

[@bohemiangod3658]

Corny for what reason?

[@KINGCABA-if4nk]

@@bohemiangod3658 exactly, why is uncomfortably corny as you politely called it. Interestedly if their white upper class you won’t be saying it’s uncomfortably corny but use to it as type of norm. You got some bad preconceptions you need to educate yourself about.

[@nyakarimaking20]

Yawn.

[@wordsareweapons]

they look like geeks

[@petercrossley1069]

Grayson is completely out of his depth in this one. He fails to challenge the people who define everything in terms of race and just sits there sympathising with blatant racist sentiments from black interviewees. It’s as if he has a guilt complex. Why did he not tell them to judge everyone on the basis of their good character and integrity and not their colour and to stop this crazy identity politics?

[@jamaalshelton6793]

American Blacks don’t need to hear that speech American Whites do.

[@TheBLACKboard65]

@@jamaalshelton6793 - 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[@TheBLACKboard65]

YOU set up the system, YOU tear it down. Why is it "identity politics" when Black people choose Black people but not when Hispanics choose Hispanics or Asians choose Asians or Natives choose Natives??? And, it's NEVER "identity politics" when Whites FOR CENTURIES have chosen someone simply because they're White, right??? Furthermore, what "blatantly racist statement" did these people make? They said it was an issue of class.

[@mmtaraval]

they said the exact opposite of "people who define everything in terms of race" . Guess you didn't watch after 2 seconds

[@mariarodgers5387]

im sorry, class does not trump race