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Wednesday, November 01, 2006

What happened to the Talented Tenth?

It is a question that I often ask myself. It is also a question that has sparked many conversations amongst my friends and colleagues. If anyone is unfamiliar with the term, it was first propogated by famed social scientist and civil rights activist, W.E.B. DuBois. Dubois believed that one of the methods to ameliorate the African-American condition entailed the promotion of the top ten percent of the Black population as being the face of Black America. This "talented tenth" would be comprised of successful African-Americans(i.e. doctors, lawyers, scientists and professionals)with a set agenda for guiding the Black masses in replicating the success of these professionals.

Of course there are many Black success stories that I can not even begin to enumerate in this blog, but the current "face" of African American imagery is rooted in a distorted picture of ghettoization, nihilism and pathology. It appears that at some point after the Civil Rights and Black Power movements(or perhaps at the beginning of the Black Power movement), the Black bourgeoisie was forced out as being a key voice for Black folk and in their stead were replaced with the Black underclass. I have a problem with this....and it has very little to do with notions of elitism. My chief complaint is that no single group should be the definitive Black voice. Everyone should have a voice for the sake of fairness and humanity. I've been lamenting for an internal, self-critical movement as it pertains to people of color for a long time now....The Cos can't do it by himself.

  • The Talented Tenth by W.E.B. Dubois
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