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BLACKS IN THE WHITE ELITE: WILL THE PROGRESS CONTINUE? by Richard Zweigenhaft; G.William DomhoffReview by: Earl SmithThe Black Scholar, Vol. 34, No. 2, BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION: 50TH ANNIVERSARY(SUMMER 2004), pp. 55-57Published by: Paradigm PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41069075 .Accessed: 07/04/2014 18:11

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THEBLACKSCHOLARBOOK REVIEWS

BLACKSIN THEWHITEELITE: WILLTHEPROGRESS CONTINUE?byRichard weigen-haft nd G. William omhoffRowmanndLit-tlefield:2003)ISBN:0-742-51621-0,19.95,paper.Reviewedy arlSmith.

"nobusinessaking egroes"*

success tory boutAfrican mericanstthe end of the 20th nd into the new21st

century s welcome ndeed.Blacks n theWhiteElite:Will he rogressontinue?s aboutAfricanAmerican uccessn the arena of education. nthis ensitivend engrossingook, socialpsy-chologistnd a politicalociologist xplore hedramaticransitionsacedbygraduatesf the ABetter hanceProgramABC),a program hathasbroughtAfricanAmerican tudents romimpoverishedrbanghettos, uralAmerica ndpoorfamily ackgrounds o attendAmerica'sexclusive, lite,prepschools.After raduating,many f these ame tudentsntermajor ollegesand universitieshen ltimatelyomemove n topositions f powerand prestige n corporateAmerica. his s a beautifultory.

Tobesure,much f the nformation nddatawegather s socialndbehavioralcientistsbouttheAfrican merican thnic rouptends s dis-mal nddistressing.oreover,hepicture merg-ingfrom hese ata s recurring,ontinual.t is,to be sure, he utgrowthromongwaves fprej-udice,discriminationnd racism. hisnewbookisa "page-turner";t s encouragingo read boutsuccessful frican mericansndespeciallyhoseindividuals hohavebroken hroughhebarriersthatblock millions f African mericans romenteringnto the world f upwardmobilityndtheAmerican ream.1

The team of social psychologistRichardZweigenhaftnd sociologist. William omhofftakes s back to their irst ook on this ubject,Blacks n theWhitestablishmentNewHaven: YaleUniversityress 991),nd carries s forwardnthis ollow-uptudy, pproximatelyifteen earsfrom he ime f the riginalnterviewshat tart-ed the uery nto heupwardmobilityorAfrican

Americans ia the route of higher ducation.

African mericans irst ecameeligiblefor ys-tematicccessto formal, on-segregated,ighereducationn theearly 960s.We arereminded,though, hateven this ccess wasstrictly on-trolled nd quasi-segregated.t took egislation,marches,numerous ourt cases and constantpushingouphold hedecisionn Brown. BoardofEducation,47 U.S. 483(1954) (USSC+).Fromthatdecision we learnthe following:

Segregationf white nd

Negrohildrenn the

public chools f a State olely n the basis ofrace, ursuantostateaws ermittingr requir-ingsuch egregation,enies oNegro hildrentheequal protectionf the awsguaranteedythe Fourteenth mendmenteventhough hephysicalacilitiesnd other tangible"actorsfwhitendNegrochoolsmay eequal.

AUTHORSREVERYMETICULOUSn theirrecountingf hedetails f thedesegregation

effortshat ollowedn thedecision,hich eganwith he first BC programs1963),as well as

who funded heseprogramse.g.,RockefellerFoundation,Merrill oundation,tc.).In theirfollow-up robe,the authors take us to theiranswersf he uestion: here re the ormer tu-dents ow nd how re they oing?

The book sorganizednsuch wayhat t canbe easily daptedforusein the classroom. tu-dentswill ove thesmooth,argon-freeext. helanguages accessible nd thesupportingocu-mentationlentiful.hose studentsnd scholarswanting o readmore, r research urther, illappreciatehe ich ndnotes nd references.

Substance12-yearpanbetween hepublicationf

thefirst ook 1991)and thenew ne (2003)giveshereader chance o see how he tudentsenrollednsomeof the preeminentrep choolsin America ared nd whathappenedto themoncethey eft he nstitutional nvironmentfthe lite rep choolworld.

*Comment adey lumni,acultynd tudentshenChoatealmamaterf ohn.Kennedy,lass f 935),admittedts irst fricanmericantudentn1959

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And,while herehas been a steadytream fresearch rticles nd books on thesubjectofAfricanAmericansnd education,2hemainingredientn BlacL n theWhitestablishmentandnow,BlacL n theWhite lite:WillTheProgresson-tinue is experiencesf the youngwomen ndmen, ll African merican, ho haveconsentedtobeingnterviewedn person, iatelephonerbye-mailyProfessorweigenhaft.f ProfessorDomhoff arried ut anyof the nterviews hiswas notmade clear. f he did not, t is also apotential eaknessnthat sociologistouldike-ly, y hevery ature f thediscipline,ave dif-ferent et of questionsand issues that needaddressingrom hose f psychologist.

The book tartsutwith retellingf thehigh-lights f the first olume,BlacL n theWhitestablish-ment. hatmakeshis ffectivesthat, fyou relikeme and havenot ookedarefullyt the first

book for everalyearsnow, t serves s a goodoverviewf the majorfindings. hereare ninechapters,woppendices,nda referenceection.The ead-inhapterFrom heGhetto otheElite"isverymportant,orn twe earn bout hemajoractorsnthe tudy. heryliner "Cher" rom ich-mond,Virginia, ho at the start wasunawarefwhoJewswere, venthough ichmond,irginiahasone of he argestewishommunitiesnAmeri-ca,goeson to marry successfulewishusiness-man.SylesterVest"Monroe,whosehree volu-tionaryicturesrace he over f hebook,wasn

thefirst ook nd remainsn the econdbookasthe enterpiecef he esearchnd the argertory.Monroe went to St.George'sSchool(RhodeIsland)romhe nfamousobert aylor rojectsnChicago,nd s the irst icturen the over f hebookreveals, e worethe clothes f the street(blackndwhite ing-tiptacy damshoes, igh-waisted ants, nd a hat).Thebook has a nicechapterchapter ight) bout heoffspringf theoriginal rep chool tudents. onroe'son,forexample,ndsup attendingt. George'schoolafter gang elatedxperiencen LosAngeleson-vincedim ndhisdad that e needed

changef

environment.MAKES THISDISCUSSIONWORTHWHILE,

though,s the analysisf the three rongsthat lock ccess orAfricanmericansookingobeupwardlyobile.MostAfrican mericanstartwith esswealth hanwhites,nd the hances hatsolidlymiddle-classarents illpasson their ta-tusto their hildren re lessforAfrican meri-cansthanforwhites. he authors otethat nyrealisticppraisal f the "economic ooting"orAfrican mericans illfind: a) precariousness,(b)marginalitynd c)fragility206).

Amidst hisgloomone finds n the book anumber f currentlyecognizablefrican meri-canswhohavepassedn their ocioeconomicta-tus o their hildren. orexample,evalPatrick,former ssistantttorney eneraln theClintonadministrationndan alum fMilton cademy,sfeatureds someonewhogives ackto the com-munityhat urtured is uccess,yparticipatinginthe ife f the Milton cademys a member fthe board of trustees.His twodaughters lsoattendedheMilton cademy.

ConclusionIS CLEARLYDEMONSTRATEDin this book IS

that education remainsone of the bestroutes oupwardmobilityorAfrican mericans.BlacL n theWhitelite:Will he rogressontinue?sa solid ontributiono the iterature hat ims opoint his ut.3 he authors f he book tate, ut-right, hat he tudentslmosto a one havebeensuccessful. urther till, hey rgue that he off-spring f the ABetter hanceProgramre therecipientsf "socialapitalhatwill lacethem ngood positionsto excel in life at almostanyendeavorheyo choose.4

This s anexcitingook,ndthewindowtpro-videsnto he xclusive,ich,white orld f privi-legemakestwellworth eading.his sespeciallytrue or hose nterestedn the plight fAfricanAmericansccessinghisworld f elite ducationsystematicallyor hefirst imenhistory.lacL ntheWhitelite:Will he rogressontinue?s an excel-lent reatmentf race, lass ndgenderssues stheympact pwardmobilityorAfricanmericanyouth. hat he uthorside n cautionnterms flookingnto hefuture s alsonoteworthy,eeingthat most of the financial upport nd otherresourceshatwentnto ecruitmentndscholar-shipsndbuilding rogramsikeABC and theBal-timore ducationalcholarshiprust BEST)haveeither ried porbeen ubstantiallyut, husmak-ing tdifficulto offer heneededmoneyospendoneliteprep chool,ndlater ollegeducationstoday.n this pdated tudy e havehere grip-ping ccount f trivings,imilarothose ecountedbyW. E.B. Du Boisn his 1903 lassiche ouk fBlackolk.5he patience hat t took to enduremany f the ll-whiteettingsomeshroughromthe tories e getfrom isteningoBobette eedKahn MacDuffiechool,WilliamsollegeandHarvardDivinity)iscussinghe new"culture"found t MacDuffie,r to Kenneth ettis Vice-Presidentor ankersrust n NewYork ity) alk-ing bout he ummerrogramhatwasused s abreaking-inool, reparinghe tudentsor he ig-

ors fdailyifenthe rep chool nvironment.

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Pettis, it was the shaping of a new socialidentity hathelpedwith his transition nto

the elite. t s mybelief hat uch reflections ellusthat n the end it mayhavebeen wellworth thestrivings o achievea good educationalfounda-tion that n so many nstances ed to successfulcollegiateexperiencesnd later careers.Blacks n

theWhite lite s a compellingpieceof research. tis a book that must be read by anyone trying ounderstand he tortured ocial-historyf AfricanAmerican-white elationsin the 20th and 21stcenturies.As we looktoward he future withthebenefit f hindsight, t s clear that ducation canbe a rewarding, ven profitableexperienceformanyAfricanAmerican tudents. he authorsdonotglanceover the trouble pots;not everyyoungfemale nd male who enteredthe programs rad-uated or went on to success.And ust as impor-tant, hey re careful to tell us earlyon that the

Great SocietyPrograms of the middle to late1960smaybe over, undermining the advancesmadebyAfrican mericans s an outcomeof the-sesprograms, eturning s to the dayswhen whitestudents, heirparents nd financially upportivealumnifelt hat these elite schoolshad "no busi-nesstakingNegroes."6

Endnotes1. See,especially,ennifer. Hochschild,acing pto

TheAmericanream: ace.Class ndthe oulof heNationNewersey:rincetonniversityress: 995)

andMary attillo-McCoy,000,Black icketences:PnvilegendPeril monghe lackMiddle lassChica-go: UniversityfChicagoress:000).

2. Thefollowingoes notrepresent full isting.ee,especially,amuel owels ndHerbert in is, chool-ing n CapitalistmericaNewYork:BasicBooks,1976);Williamowen ndDerekBok,The hapefthe iverPrinceton,ew ersey:rincetonniversityPress, 998);JasonW.Osborne, 999, UnravelingUnderachievementmongAfrican merican oys."JournalfNegroducation,8:555-65;ignithiaord-ham andJohn W.Ogbu,1986,"BlackStudentsSchool Success:Copingwith he Burden f Acting

White,"n Urbaneview,: 176-206ndRoslyn ick-elson,2000,"TheContributionsf Abstract,on-crete, ndOppositionalttitudesoUnderstandingRaceand ClassDifferencesnAdolescents'chieve-ment." aperread at the annual meeting f theAmericanociologicalssociation,hicago;WalterR.Allen, d.,CollegenBlack ndWhite:fricanmeri-canStudentsnPredominantlyhitendHistoricallyBlack ublicniversitiesNew ork: UNYress:991).

3. Agoodhistoricalerspectiven the mportancefeducationforAfrican mericanss found n thebookbyW.E. B. Du Boistitled, he ducationfBlackeople:enCritiques.906-1960UniversityfMassachusettsress, 978).

4. To define ocial apitalwe note t s "the ggregateofthe ctual r potentialesources hich re inkedto possessionf a durablenetworkf more r lessinstitutionalizedelationshipsf mutual cquain-tance r recognition."his s howPierre ourdieudefined heterm. t should e noted, owever,hatsocialapitals mbedded ithinhenature f ocialrelationships.opossessocialapital personmustbe related o others, ence nstitutionsf higherlearning. ee,especially,lejandroPortes, 998,"SocialCapital:Its Originand ApplicationsnModemociology."nnual eviewfSodology4:1-24and Robert utnam. 995."Bowlinglone:Ameri-ca'sDecliningocialCapital." ournalfDemocracy6:65-78.

5. W.E. B. DuBois,The oulsf lack olk.ntroductionbyHerbert pthekerMillwood,Y: Kraus-Thom-sonOrganizationtd, 1903],973).

6. JohnAnderson,yndonohnsonnd theGreatociety(Chicago:vanR. Dee Publishers:998).

8^ ^ks DOLEKIUMOOK5^SE l Rare Out-of-printooks ^9jP=* onAmericanocial jjjj[j^Q Movements ^B CatalogsnAfricanmerican ^n HistoryndLiterature ^9jfa^l ... andn he ieldsfAmericanabor jipNjf andRadicalistory/ChicanoPuerto 22HI" 51 Ricantudies/Asianmerican SSJ^J Studies/Gaynd LesbianHistorynd ^^Sil^vf Literaturevailablepon equest. ^^SIt3j 2141MISSION#300 jjjStfSj SANFRANCISCO,A94110 ^BlT~?| 1-800-326-6353US&CANADA): ^S|*CJj 415-255-6499fax) ' JB|L^J Rebs@Bolerium.come-mail)

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