These are terms that help us analyze the way that society works, both in history and the present.  They allow us to see patterns in the way that people interact with the world.

 

Double Consciousness:  This is a concept first used by black intellectual W.E.B. DuBois.  It refers to how African Americans have two consciousnesses: one of being black, and one of how their blackness is perceived by the dominant white world.  This is not an easy concept to grasp, but it is deeply explored throughout this site in a variety of circumstances.

 

Genteel performance: This is a concept I use to describe how socioeconomic class is performed among upper and middle class African Americans. The term is mine but the concept is taken from other historians.  Genteel performance refers to a set of behaviors that allow people to perform upper/middle class status, even if they lack the material wealth normally associated with the upper classes.

 

Performance: Performance is more than a theatrical concept; everyone "performs" all of the time.  When we are in different situations, we behave in different ways.  Think about the way you behave in class, versus when you're out with friends, versus when you're with your family.  In each of these situations, you perform a difference version of yourself, even though these differences may be very subtle.  Performance also applies to groups of people; people within a certain group might present themselves differently to other members of this group than they would to people outside of this group.  Performance is more than behavior; it includes all ways that you represent yourself to the outside world, be it your clothing, how you set up your Facebook page, what you put on a resume, or even what your tastes and interests are.

 

Social class (or socioeconomic class): Social class is a way to categorize people based on how much material they have. In American society, social class has almost always been a definitive characteristic of one's identity. Social class can also be performed (see performance below).

 

Note about class terminology for middle and upper class blacks: throughout this site, middle and upper class African Americans are also referred to as "elites,""the aristocracy," and as a "professional class." These terms are used interchangeably, even though they may seem very different, and generally refer to non-poor African Americans.  It is difficult to describe middle and upper class blacks as a group, because many middle class blacks actually occupied working class jobs; they were considered part of the middle class through their performance (see below).

 

Social construction of race: Racial categories have been constructed through social processes over time, and are not grounded in biological/genetic differences (the only biological difference that exists between different racial groups is complexion/hair type).