Blake, 1

Tom Blake
Period 3A
October 28, 2015
The Double Bind
Emmett Till was a young African American boy from the North who, when accused for whistling
at a white woman, was brutally murdered by a group of white men. This kind of oppression was
common in America as late as the 1960s, but as a result of the civil rights movement and a push for
equality among the races, this oppression has been nearly eliminated. Although the oppression has been
eliminated, the black culture has popularly kept the attitude and lifestyle of victimization has been
kept and even strengthened. Shelby Steele, having grown up in a middle-class black family in Chicago in
the fifties and sixties, faced many hardships with race and class. Many of the problems he faced were
attributed to the so-called double bind a force restricting many black middle class individuals from
associating completely with race and class. In Steeles essay, On Being Black and Middle Class, despite
being written for college administration, Steeles essay has educated the general public on this lesser
known issue. Although I disagree with Steele that this double bind is escapable, I agree that this double
bind is a significant force faced by middle class blacks, and that the cause of this problem is based in this
widespread attitude of victimization among blacks. I believe that this cannot be fixed until the culture
changes its values, but there is a way around it to be an individual.
The double bind which Steele hints at constantly through his essay On Being Black and Middle
Class, is a force that traps many middle class African Americans from associating completely with both
race and class, and unlike Steele, I believe this is inescapable. Steele describes the American middle class
as having values such as, hard work, family life, property ownership, and education, (Steele, 80) in a
very positive way, but these values are seen as nearly opposites to the black qualities described as
feeling entitled, having no sense with money, (being) organized around implied separatism, and most

Blake, 2
importantly, feeling victimized. This double bind is the imaginary force holding middle class blacks from
associating fully with one culture without having values taken from the other. Steele gives an anecdote
of his life saying Black though I may be, it is impossible for me to sit in my single-family house with two
cars in the driveway and a swing set in the back yard and not see the role class has played in my
life.(78) Although I fully agree with Steele that you can be African American and also middle class, I
believe that there is no way to fully associate with black culture and middle class values at the same
time. Steele introduces the popular black culture in a somewhat negative, formal tone, saying that he
had left them behind because they were going nowhere. Although being black and middle class,
Steele often mentions his separation from the black culture by saying he had moved back and forth like
a bigamist(80) or when introducing the Sam character described as a counterpoint against which to
express our aspirations,(81) who was later revealed to be the personification of the average lower-class
black. Although Steele, very confusingly, seems to lean towards the ability to keep both race and class, I
believe there is no way to associate with both, as long as the black culture revolves around
victimization as it does today.
Steele, although very unclear and even contradicting at times about his final stance, leans
towards seeing a way to break the double bind found in the lives of many middle class blacks like
himself, but I believe that it cant be broken without losing important values from either class or race,
nor does it need to be broken. In concluding his essay, Steele leans towards the ability to associate with
both race and class, but this is unrealistic. In the real world, these two things are complete opposites
and cannot exist together. Steele, who seems to believe he associates with black and middle class
culture, stated many times throughout the essay that he was seen as marginally black by professors,
students, and friends, which means that the double bind hadnt truly been broken. To break this double
bind would mean to keep all the values of both cultures without a decrease to one or the other. In some
of the African Americans I know personally, I have seen both. Ben, a twenty-one year old African

Blake, 3
American associates completely with middle class, and has none of the black values hinted at by
Steele, whereas George, a twenty-six year old African American, associates clearly with race not culture.
Although working at a job for the same wage as the other middle class employees, George lives in a rundown condo and has problems paying rent. This is because George, unlike the other middle class
employees, spends his wages on goods such as; a convertible, cell phones, shoes, clothing, alcohol, and
parties. George also feels he is disadvantaged and cheated out of living a middle class life like the other
employees because he is black, rather than because of his decisions with his money. This kind of attitude
now comes not from oppression, but from the black culture feeling that they are victims, often with
no reason.
This double bind would be completely irrelevant without the widespread victim based culture
seen largely in black culture. This victimization began largely because of the monolith created during
the Civil Rights Movement. This monolith brought all blacks together and destroyed all distinguishing
factors such as class, and brought a substance of victimization.(82) Although this monolith and victim
based culture may have been necessary in the sixties, it is unnecessary, and even detrimental to black
culture in todays culture. Steele says to be black was to be a victim; therefore to not be a victim was
not to be black.(86) This victimized attitude is responsible for the monolith of a largely similar black
culture, and also the reason the double bind still occurs. Along with creating problems for middle-class
blacks, this victimized attitude holds back the culture and race as a whole. The victim-focused black
identity encourages the individual to feel that his advancement depends almost entirely on that of the
group. Thus he loses sight not only of his own possibilities, but of the inextricable connection between
individual effort and individual placement.(86) This unnecessary attitude of victimization still not only
creates a double bind, but holds the culture back as a whole.
This attitude of victimization does not only create a double bind, but holds back the entire black
culture, and the only way to advance is to lose this attitude completely. When analyzing the attitude of

Blake, 4
the black culture, Steele says this form of identity (victimization), inadvertently adds itself to the forces
that hold us back. Hard work, education, individual initiative, stable family life, property ownership
these have always been the means by which ethnic groups have moved ahead in America.(87) In order
to grow and move ahead as a culture, blacks need to cling to those means of improvement, but this
victimized attitude largely holds them back from movement by contradicting nearly all of those traits.
Along with keeping the lower class blacks in the lower class, this attitude has brought the whole culture
down with it, and kept it from improvement. But how can this problem be fixed? Although others say
that middle class blacks need to reach back and help those with less than them, Steele compares this
to a moving train. He sees this as reaching back from a moving train to lift on board those who have no
tickets.(87) The only way to better the culture as a whole is to change the values and show them the
structure of principles, efforts, and sacrifice that puts one in a position to buy a ticket anytime one
likes.(87) This is required for any group to move ahead, but the middle class blacks cannot lead by
example because they are seen as suspect or marginally black by the black culture. I believe that the
only way for the double bind to be broken, and the culture to be moved ahead as a whole is to get rid of
the victimized attitude that, although once necessary, is now detrimental and fake.
Although it is human nature to have an inherent desire to be a part of, and follow the lifestyle of
a larger group such as a race or class, there is no need. In my opinion, this double bind, although
seemingly unescapable, does not need to be escaped. Just because a person has dark skin does not
mean he must associate with a certain culture, and just because a person has a moderate income does
not mean they must associate with a certain class. I believe that people should value being an individual
more than being part of a group, which would eliminate this so called double bind. Steele eludes to this
point by saying be both an individual and a responsible citizen; understand that the quality of your life
will approximately reflect the quality of effort you put into it; know that individual responsibility is the
basis of freedom. Although there is appeal to be a part of a group or culture, people must learn to be

Blake, 5
an individual before being a part of a group because everyone has a different life not all blacks are
oppressed, and not all middle class people are honest hard workers.
The essay On Being Black and Middle Class, written by Shelby Steele, was first published in
Commentary, January 1998, but has since been reprinted and used to educate the general public on the
issue facing many middle class blacks. This double bind is a force holding many middle class blacks, such
as Steele, from associating fully with both their race and their class because of opposing factors in both.
Although I disagree with Steele that this double bind can be escaped, I agree that this problem is cause
entirely by the victimized attitude among blacks that, not only holds back the middle class, but the black
culture as a whole, and that the only way to rid the culture of this problem and to advance as a group is
to completely get rid of this victimized attitude. But as an individual facing the double bind such as
Steele, I believe there is nothing to do but act as an individual rather than associating with groups, and
do what they feel is right, instead of what the culture they associate with tells them.
Works Cited
Steele, Shelby On Being Black and Middle Class (1998)