[WS:] This is certainly what I see in DC and Baltimore. There is a large Black professional class here - linked to the government to be sure, but not necessarily to the military. Public school system is another area with a large Black professional class. Media and entertainment may be another area - but I am not sure. I also see many Blacks in FIRE industries here.
As I said in my earlier posting, race does not play the same function of exclusion from access top economic resources as it did in the 19th and much of the 20th centuries. That function is now played by the credentialing system, which is far more flexible than ethnic markers. Employers or interest groups can set any combination of credential requirement to selectively exclude people of any ethnic or educational background. This is particularly visible here, in the DC/Baltimore area in the rift in the Black or Hispanic communities. I know of many Black professional sending their children to private schools precisely to keep them insulated from the "Black ghetto culture" prevalent in public schools, so they can go on the path of acquiring the right college credentials. There is also a liberal thinking in the public school system that pushes for college credentials for all Black public school students,which often backfires by setting unreasonable goals that discourage rather than encourage students from learning. Also, pressure coming from Black professional circles is an important reason why Obama administration loves charter schools.
In short, there is a sea change in the world of creating barriers and exclusions and race is quickly becoming phased out from that world.
College credentials are moving in fast. I am afraid that Charles and others who still sing the old leftie song in which professional Blacks are "traitors to their race" are going to miss that boat altogether.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."