ack hole and on the outside resides all the wealth, the tax money and the resources, where the white people live. Opportunities no longer exist for the people at the bottom, opportunities only exist for the people with graduate degrees and only certain people can get them. Cleaver feels that capitalist democracy or as she calls it "commercial democracy," needs a middle class that functions smoothly. A system such as this needs a certain number of people at the elite level, a certain number in the middle and the rest of the people scrambling to get there. We live in a society that is built upon financial incentives so when the Black Panthers differed from the norm and touted, "Power for the People," people in high places got nervous. Next, the interviewer raises the question of the black middle class and what we can expect from the 27 million black Americans. Cleaver feels that we should not worry about the black middle class. What we should be worried about is our fundamental system. If we had a system that valued human rights and resources, people would come first and property second and all oppressed would benefit. In essence black people are going to suffer or enjoy the benefits or demerits of society, they are merely more vulnerable. So if there are benefits, they get the least and if there is harm they get the biggest share. In Cleaver' s opinion, the problem with black leadership is that they do not remain within the black community, but become involved in the larger society and ignite a class conflict instead of class progress. This type of action leads to the collapse of many communities, and consequently deviant behavior. These communities must be rebuilt and invested in heavily by the government and or corporate America. The problem is lack of political power to make this happen with the help of the government and lack of interest to get any aid from corporations. Ultimately, Cleaver feels that blacks need to real...
