--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I first started working on 'The…" description: "\"When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people couldn't grasp the concept that, one, there is a black middle class, and, two, Inglewood is a ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg" --- # When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people… ![“When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people couldn't grasp the concept that, one, there is a black middle class, and, two, Inglewood is a part of it.” quote by Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg) > “When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people couldn't grasp the concept that, one, there is a black middle class, and, two, Inglewood is a part of it.” [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker notes that many people fail to recognize a black middle class and Inglewood's inclusion in it, highlighting a gap in perception about socioeconomic diversity within Black communities. **In simple terms:** People often overlook the black middle class and Inglewood's role in it. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and discuss hidden socioeconomic groups. Themes social awareness racial identity urban sociology Mood thoughtful analytical Type observational critical When to use this quote - community workshops - school curricula - public policy discussions Key Concepts class stratification media representation Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing a black middle class change community narratives? - What factors contribute to its invisibility? A Different Perspective The claim may oversimplify complex class dynamics and ignore intra‑community variations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [The composition of the Greens seems to be the same as that of the population in general - mainly pieces of drifting wood, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pentti-linkola/the-composition-of-the-greens-seems-to-be-the-same-as-that-of-the/) [Pentti Linkola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pentti-linkola/) > [Since the day Martin Luther King was killed, the black middle classes have almost quadrupled, but the percentage of black children living on or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/since-the-day-martin-luther-king-was-killed-the-black-middle-classes/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [There is a forgotten black middle class in America - a group which is huge but underrepresented in the media and in art. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayana-mathis/there-is-a-forgotten-black-middle-class-in-america-a-group-which-is/) [Ayana Mathis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayana-mathis/) > [In a sense the quest for the emancipation of black people in the U.S. has always been a quest for economic liberation which means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/in-a-sense-the-quest-for-the-emancipation-of-black-people-in-the-u-s/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Cities with a black middle class provide the narrow minded an opportunity to realize that cultural differences are largely economic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dov-davidoff/cities-with-a-black-middle-class-provide-the-narrow-minded-an/) [Dov Davidoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dov-davidoff/) > [There's a very big gulf between the black civil rights leadership in America and the black middle class in America. The black middle class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-du-pont/there-s-a-very-big-gulf-between-the-black-civil-rights-leadership-in/) [Pete du Pont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-du-pont/) > [There is no such thing as a black middle class.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-rap-brown/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-black-middle-class/) [H. Rap Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-rap-brown/) > [I think it is important to acknowledge the extent to which the black middle class tends to rely on a kind of imagined struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/i-think-it-is-important-to-acknowledge-the-extent-to-which-the-black/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [“The black middle class displays a torn ambivalence toward the situation of the black poor. 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I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issa-rae/it-was-jarring-to-be-berated-for-acting-white-when-i-was-placed-in-a/) [Issa Rae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issa-rae/) > ['The Wood' was sort of like 'American Graffiti' for me in a lot of different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/the-wood-was-sort-of-like-american-graffiti-for-me-in-a-lot-of/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [Maybe I was just one of those people who couldn't rest easy unless things went catastrophically wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/maybe-i-was-just-one-of-those-people-who-couldn-t-rest-easy-unless/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [“thinking how good it was to be free, away from the baby and from Tom, too, the two people who couldn’t help reminding her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-perrotta/thinking-how-good-it-was-to-be-free-away-from-the-baby-and-from-tom/) [Tom Perrotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-perrotta/) > [Overall, we had about 50 meetings where the brothers would say that I couldn't do any solo records, I couldn't write for other people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sammy-hagar/overall-we-had-about-50-meetings-where-the-brothers-would-say-that-i/) [Sammy Hagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sammy-hagar/) ## More by Rick Famuyiwa > [Media has become a way that we think about our history. And the media moments are, for better or worse, how we contextualize our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/media-has-become-a-way-that-we-think-about-our-history-and-the-media/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [I'm not as cocky as I used to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/i-m-not-as-cocky-as-i-used-to-be/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [Now being 41 and looking back on my career... It became natural for me to revisit Inglewood and to revisit the coming-of-age movie, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/now-being-41-and-looking-back-on-my-career-it-became-natural-for-me/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [I've been a fan of Wendell Pierce for a very long time. 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I wrote an outline first, then a first draft, then got feedback and rewrote…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/when-i-wrote-high-stakes-i-followed-the-classical-format-i-wrote-an/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [People come to L.A. and they expect to see a ghetto like the projects, but that's not the way it's set up. Inglewood, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/people-come-to-l-a-and-they-expect-to-see-a-ghetto-like-the-projects/) [Rick Famuyiwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/) > [Inglewood is a microcosm of Los Angeles. It's a city by the airport. 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Forster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-forster-2/) > [I wasn't the smartest in school - I was always sort of middle of the class - but when it came to football, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-wilson/i-wasn-t-the-smartest-in-school-i-was-always-sort-of-middle-of-the/) [Harry Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-wilson/) > [The family of my mother had a lot of money; the family of my father, nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charo/the-family-of-my-mother-had-a-lot-of-money-the-family-of-my-father/) [Charo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charo/) > [Now that I'm more middle class, I have access to consumer goods. 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The decision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/the-benefit-of-living-in-a-free-society-is-that-we-all-have-the/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) [Browse all 2,050 Middle class quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people couldn't grasp the concept that, one, there is a black middle class, and, two, Inglewood is a part of it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rick Famuyiwa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood-these-people-couldn-t-grasp/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Middle class" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood-these-people-couldn-t-grasp/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6dc/rick-famuyiwa-5995_middle-class_when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood_1809943.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I first started working on 'The Wood,' these people couldn't grasp the concept that, one, there is a…” — Rick Famuyiwa", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rick Famuyiwa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-famuyiwa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I first started working on...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood-these-people-couldn-t-grasp/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-famuyiwa/when-i-first-started-working-on-the-wood-these-people-couldn-t-grasp/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```