The Talented Tenth: Why It Is Necessary For A Comprehensive Understanding From A Comprehensive Study

Since the start of this month (June), I have been reading many scholarly articles regarding the life, philosophy and work of W.E.B. Du Bois. Much has been written of him, and a great deal of it concerns his 'Talented Tenth' concept.

The fundamentals of Du Bois's idea are simple:educated African Americans should sacrifice personal interests in favour of community leadership, designed to improve the condition of the race. Before I broadly define the Talented Tenth, it is necessary to immediately deal withe the biggest criticism. The single criticism which has dogged the concept right from its publication is still part of the debate today: elitism. But the Talented Tenth was never designed to be an exclusionary group! The concept was originally designed to promote self-sacrifice.

It is important to distinguish between the Talented Tenth and the black middle classes of both now and of Du Bois's era, something Juan Battle has done in the past. Juan's defining characteristic of the black middle class is elitism: they are the ones who are dong nothing for poor blacks and they are the ones who are concerned solely with individual accomplishments. Juan also concludes the Talented Tenth are currently fulfilling Du Bois's original charge to uplift the African American race from the top, down.

An in-depth public study going beyond the boundaries of academia of Du Bois's Talented Tenth concept is crucial to understanding how far American society has come in the last one hundred years. The study should be done along Du Boisian lines, split into four divisions: historical study; statistical investigation; anthropological measurement and sociological interpretation.

I am wondering whether or not it is still necessary to have a group 'leading the way' for the race. Du Bois altered and modified his definition of the group as times and circumstances changed. What would he have as the defining characteristics today? Would a college education still be central to it?

Also, what can British society take from his work with regard to the Muslim community of the twenty-first century? The history of Muslims in Britain is very different to the history of Africans in the United States. The key difference is of course, Britons never enslaved the Muslims. So is the Talented Tenth of Du Bois still valid for Muslims or does it need to be modified in some way or does it need scrapping altogether?

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright.