Revisioning the Talented Tenth
Famed sociologist, W.E.B. DuBois once said:
The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst, in their own and in other races.
The idea, at its foundation, isn’t bad…
Yes: some of us are more gifted than others. Specifically, some of us are more gifted than others in community building and human development. That’s not elitist…that’s truth.
But we are all part of one body. All of us have gifts, in the various areas that are important to a living body. So the strong amongst us cannot survive without those who might be weaker.
And that was the attitude of our people, for much of our American experience. “I am because we are”…Ubuntu.
Check out this brief video describing Ubuntu from the spiritual father of South Africa’s fight against Apartheid, Archbishop Desmond Tutu…
What do you think of his expression of Africa as the birthplace of this philosophy of “radical oneness?”
Remind me to tell you what the Ethiopians say about “oneness” and how it’s embedded in their understanding of Christianity…
At its origins, the Talented Tenth understood Ubuntu.
It embodied Ubuntu…
Members of the Talented Tenth understood that they were able to achieve as individuals because of the legacy and witness of the collective. And in thanksgiving to the collective for making their individual achievements possible, they committed themselves to advancing the collective – making possible the individual achievements of the next generation.
Read that paragraph again…
This was a spiritual understanding that was ingrained in Black people as part of the Christian faith – as interpreted by the Black Church.
While Whites gave Christianity to Blacks in America in order to pacify and control us, the Black Church saw the faith as empowering and liberating…using Christianity to lead the fight against slavery and Jim Crow segregation.
Theres a phenomenal book by one of my early mentors that speaks more about the role of the African Christian Faith in the liberation of Black Americans. You can check it out here…
But the Nadir of American Race Relations…the assassinations of the COINTELPro era and the resulting riots gave rise to what I call the Talented Tenth Dilemma.
This dilemma is essentially another way of highlighting the “fight-or-flight response” to stress or trauma.
Very Well Mind describes this phenomenon like this:
The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to a physiological reaction that occurs in the presence of something that is terrifying, either mentally or physically. The response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.
The term ‘fight-or-flight’ represents the choices that our ancient ancestors had when faced with a danger in their environment.
For our purposes, the decision to fight or flee is:
- To stand and fight for racial justice on behalf of the Black community, or
- To break with the collective – to Exodus from the group – and run away for your own safety.
Given the very real prospects of being killed by racist Whites or by your own government…
Given the likelihood of having your livelihood destroyed in a riot, in response to another racially motivated terrorist attack, many of the Talented Tenth decided to seek safety for themselves.
Those were the choices our ancestors had…
Fight for the people and die. Or secure your own safety…
But whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Rather than choosing to fight, they took flight…
To the suburbs…to predominantly White institutions…to corporate America.
And maybe we had good intentions…we didn’t really set out to leave the community behind…
But it became “every one for themselves.”
And we took on all the negative characteristics of our oppressors…
And we excelled at those negatives…
Then there’s the myth of Willie Lynch…
They say it’s most likely fake. Too many dates don’t add up…
But real or fake, there’s no denying the resulting breakdown of the Black Community…and the Black family.
You see: the Black Community used to be the moral compass of America.
Wrestling with the dichotomy between the ideals of Liberty and the reality of slavery and Jim Crow, the witness of Black America has continuously pushed America to “form a More Perfect Union.” Yet White society’s assault on Black people has effectively triggered the fight or flight response, compelling Blacks to abandon any concerted effort to collective justice in favor of individualistic pursuits. As a result, Black Americans have abandoned the moral high ground in favor of whatever might seem right in the moment.
Many of us become like Jordan…
You know: immense talents…fierce competitor, with a hellacious determination to defeat the odds…
And they are good…no – they’re grrreeeaattt!
They prove themselves over and over again…multiple championships…arguably the greatest to ever play the game…
But along the way they lost power…
It might seem like they have power…Like Jordan they have tons of cultural influence and social capital. They can afford the good life…
Their opinions matter to popular culture…
They have the economic leverage to “put their money where their mouths are.”
Except they’re silent…
They’re so concerned with ensuring that their talents don’t threaten White power that they condition themselves to stay on the sidelines when it comes to taking a stand on behalf of others. They trade their moral high ground for their acceptance in high society.
Trying to protect the Wakandas they’ve built for themselves, they hide from the social realities unfolding all around them. They remain safe in their personal oases, while suffering consumes so many.
Even the Black Church has abandoned this moral high ground…
Like the scribes and Pharisees, the Black Church became agents of oppression on behalf of the empire. In exchange for oppressing their own, or for distracting them with the shiny things of prosperity, the Black Church has gained favor with the State.
Dinners with elected officials: Senators…the Mayor…the Governor…the President. Photo opps and other perks.
You know what I mean…right?
It’s why you don’t really rely on your pastor…it’s why you don’t have any real and deep relationship with your pastor. You don’t trust him/her in your life like that…
Where the Black Church used to fuel the onward and upward calling of our people, it now – at best – serves to help us merely survive the American experience, while we remain trapped in the wilderness. At worst, the church distracts us from the journey to the Promised Land with the pursuit of worldly trinkets.
Even the church has abandoned the fight and given in to White supremacy…
And we are left trying to squeeze out what little spiritual benefit we can for ourselves and our families.
Yet, religion has a major effect on identity. And the Black Church has been a major influence in shaping the identity of Black people in America. Even many non-Christian and anti-Christian Blacks are shaped by the effect of Christianity on the Black community.
But colonized religion won’t free us. And simply pretending that our faith wasn’t shaped by slave masters trying to make us obedient to – and complicit in – our oppression, doesn’t change the reality.
So when the Black Church has given in to White supremacy, the social condition of Blacks in America makes sense…
It’s no wonder that we – as a people – still haven’t gotten to the Promised Land.
The version of Christianity that we were given, cannot get us there…
So what will it take? How are we ever to get out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land?
