The NEW MIDDLE CLASS

November 7, 3:57 PMLA Suburban Neighborhoods ExaminerTamboura Baptiste

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There has been much talk in recent years about a fading middle class in America, as the richest 1/2 of a percent of the American population are recieving more and more of all income over the past couple of decades. As it is, the absolute definition of "Middle Class" has always been a topic of debate, but in recent years this definition is greyer than ever. The conventional thinking of what constitutes middle-class, types of jobs held, level of education, have changed. A survey on Amercian Middle Class people posted on MSNBC's website show that more Middle-Class Americans since 1964 (when the survey was first conducted) feel they are not better off today than they were five years ago. 

I currently live in the predominantly Hispanic section of Pacoima, CA, just off of the 5 interstate freeway, in the San Fernando Valley. The Latino community in Los Angeles has for decades asserted themselves in finding work, building business, and strengthening their communities. It appears that that this diligence has paid off. In a time of confused identity about what is, who is, and how safe is Middle Class in America, the Latino community is strengthening its position in that very mysterious, and supposedly fading category. According to Hispania News,  "The Latino middle-class grew at a whopping 80% the past 20 years. This is a rate three times higher than among non-Hispanic whites".

In Pacoima, Is there crime? yes. Is there poverty? In fact, visit http://homes.point2.com/Neighborhood/US/California/Los-Angeles-County/San-Fernando-Valley/Pacoima-Demographics.aspx. The numbers are disturbingly unattractive. There are more gangs in the San Fernando Valley than in any other part of Los Angeles, many of whom reside in Pacoima. 

However, while crime continues to exist in places like Pacoima, and unemployment in the Latino community has risen along with the rest of the nation, the overwhelming positive is that over the decades, while the nation speaks of a feeling of a general lack of stability in the Middles Class, communities such as this one in Pacoima steadily represent a slow and steady growth towards becoming more secure; more Middle Class.