Talented Tenth
The "Talented Tenth" is a concept introduced by African American scholar and activist W. E. B. Du Bois in 1903, referring to a select group of educated black individuals whom he believed could provide crucial leadership for the advancement of African Americans. Du Bois, the first African American to earn a doctoral degree from Harvard, called for the development of a classically educated elite to uplift marginalized communities, contrasting sharply with the vocational education focus promoted by contemporary leaders like Booker T. Washington. While recognizing the importance of vocational training, Du Bois emphasized the broader purpose of education as fostering a sense of culture and self-awareness among individuals, aiming to create a generation of leaders, thinkers, and artists. His advocacy for this intellectual vanguard reflected a significant shift in black activism during the early twentieth century, as it combined elements of accommodationism with a call for more assertive protest. The Talented Tenth idea significantly influenced the early Civil Rights movement and was foundational in the formation of organizations like the NAACP. Over time, however, enthusiasm for this concept waned as the movement increasingly focused on the needs and rights of the broader black working class. Overall, the Talented Tenth remains a critical aspect of discussions about leadership, education, and social justice within the African American community.
Talented Tenth
“Talented Tenth” is a term coined in 1903 by black scholar and activist W. E. B. Du Bois to denote a black intellectual elite that he hoped would provide the leadership necessary to facilitate the advancement of black Americans. Du Bois, who in 1895 became the first African American to receive a doctoral degree from Harvard, drew upon a tradition of northern-based black intellectualism predating the Civil War to promote the development of a classically trained vanguard of “leaders, thinkers, and artists” to educate and uplift oppressed, lower-class blacks. Du Bois’s Talented Tenth proposal was largely a response to accommodationists such as Booker T. Washington, who emphasized vocational education as a means for blacks to establish themselves economically and socially in a manner nonthreatening to whites.
Originally a follower of Washington, Du Bois began to dissent from accommodationist policy when Washington’s emphasis on industrial education and his influence with northern philanthropists drew resources away from southern liberal arts colleges such as Atlanta University, where Du Bois was a professor of sociology. Although Du Bois’s scathing criticisms of accommodationism echoed those of other “radical” black leaders such as Monroe Trotter (who denounced Washington as a race traitor), Du Bois’s call for a Talented Tenth was essentially an elitist variation of the doctrine of self-help and racial solidarity that was at the core of accommodationism. Like Washington, Du Bois advocated education as a means of strengthening black communities by alleviating social pathologies brought on by generations of oppression and cultural alienation. While recognizing the necessity of vocational training for young blacks, Du Bois insisted that the true aim of education was “not to make men carpenters (but) to make carpenters men” by imbuing them with a sense of culture and an elevated awareness of their place in the world. To accomplish this, Du Bois argued, it would be necessary to maintain a small number of quality black liberal-arts institutions dedicated to developing and motivating liberally educated black teachers and professionals.
The idea of a Talented Tenth of black leadership is significant not only as the essence of Du Bois’s racial policy but also as a reflection of the changing spirit of black activism in early twentieth century America. By combining elements of accommodationism with strains of postbellum agitation, Du Bois advanced a new synthesis of black protest thought that exerted considerable influence upon the early Civil Rights movement; at the heart of this synthesis was his advocacy of leadership by the Talented Tenth. The Niagara Movement, organized by Du Bois in 1905, consisted mainly of upper- and middle-class black intellectuals from northern states and emphasized agitation as a means of protest. In 1909, key members of the Niagara Movement, including Du Bois, joined forces with progressive upper- and middle-class whites to establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), whose strategy of legalism and direct action relied heavily upon the leadership of attorneys and academics. Despite the success of this strategy of legalism and the prominent leadership of scholars such as Martin Luther King, Jr., enthusiasm for the idea of a Talented Tenth waned through the twentieth century as the focus of the Civil Rights movement shifted from the interests of a biracial elite to those of a predominantly black working class.
Bibliography
Alridge, Derrick P. "Education for Black Advancement." The Educational Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois: An Intellectual History. New York: Teachers College P, 2008. 61–67. Print.
James, Joy. Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals. Hoboken: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Jones, Angela. African American Civil Rights: Early Activism and the Niagara Movement. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2011. Print.
Smith, Robert C. "Talented Tenth." Encyclopedia of African American Politics. New York: Facts On File, 2014. Print.
Washington, Booker T., et al. The Negro Problem. Rpt. Lanham: Start, 2013. Print.