E. Frazier's Black Bourgeoisie

Black Bourgeoisie by E. Franklin Frazier was published in 1957. Influenced by the predicament of the African American middle in 1928 over thirty years, he made an assessment of the black economy, corporate arena, and the migration of Blacks from the South to the North. Beginning with a historical background, he synthesizes the experience of slavery and the rise of the Black middle class with the White middle class. With very strong sense of distaste, Frazier writes his critique on the Black Bourgeoisie when it came to cultural and political factors. He addresses the problem of not only their behavior but their values and attitudes. From the start of the novel, he is able to dismantle the pedestal on the Black Bourgeoisie. Frazier uses this text to highlight what he deems as reality versus the make-believe world that the Black Bourgeoisie attempts to live in. He wrote this book during the height of the New Negro and the audience can almost taste Frazier’s love for New Orleans and his disdain for the Black Bourgeoisie through each page of this novel. He combines historical, political, and …show more content…
Though his tone, at times, was harsh, Frazier was able to capitalize on that harshness with facts, very displeased and strives to reconfigures the concept of the Black church, Black Greek letter organizations, Black owned businesses, Black media outlets, Black colleges and universities and the Black family and their need to assimilate neglecting and disconnecting from Black roots. The Black Bourgeoisie is counterproductive—some consider themselves a people to aspire to be and a visual goal for that of the lowly Negro when in fact that cannot admit their own personal self-hatred and unhappiness with their place or lack thereof in society. Frazier uses every outlet and source of empathy to solidify the uncanny image of the Black