 The black lower-middle class is concentrated in sales, clerical positions, and blue-collar occupations, while the black upper-middle class (sometimes combined into the black upper class) is characterized by highly educated professionals in white-collar occupations, such as health care professionals, lawyers, professors, and engineers.Many African-Americans had limited opportunities for advancement to middle class status prior to 1961 because of racial discrimination, segregation, and the fact that most lived in the rural South.In 1960, 43% of the white population completed high school, while only 20% of the black population did the same.