<sod>In 2003, Forbes magazine may have proclaimed [[Oprah Winfrey]] the country’s first black woman billionaire, but still most of the black middle class was in this period still part of the lower middle class. Since the election of president [[Barack Obama]], [[Darryl Pinckney]] is claiming, it has become apparent that being black middle-class is not as elitist as it used to be any more. The new black elite has become so big, that middle-class has become quite normal.<ref name="nybooks" /><eod>
<sod>In 2003, Forbes magazine may have proclaimed [[Oprah Winfrey]] the country’s first black woman billionaire, but still most of the black middle class was in this period part of the lower middle class. Since the election of president [[Barack Obama]], [[Darryl Pinckney]] is claiming, it has become apparent that being black middle-class is not as elitist as it used to be any more. The new black elite has become so large that being middle-class has become quite normal.<ref name="nybooks" /><eod>