Even those who did manage to gain wealth faced pervasive systemic inequities. White society largely viewed Black Americans as "a homogenous mass of degraded people," according to historian Willard B. Gatewood in his book, "Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite."
"Even exceptional Blacks were considered inferior to whites," Gatewood wrote.
--There's always that one person who wants to humble and bring Black people down a peg.