Panel discusses talented blacks

Temple University doctoral candidate Edward Glaude led a roundtable discussion with University students Wednesday night on the societal role of the "Talented Tenth," a term referring to black intelligentsia. The speech, held in the Multipurpose room of DuBois College House, was sponsored by the house as a part of Black Unity Week, an attempt to bring students together to share their experiences as blacks in America. Glaude discussed many of the problems of black culture, commenting on the influence of many black thinkers including W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington and many others. He described much of DuBois' work dealing with the rationalization of race as a scientific notion. He went on to talk about the problems of hopelessness and nihilism in urban black youth. He offered this as a leading cause for the urban drug epidemic. He also attributed such problems to the breakdown of the influence of civic institutions. He considered aspects of black culture, such as blues and hip-hop/house music, as attempts to deal with these nihilist feelings. Glaude then discussed the problems of black culture in post-modern society. He said that he felt black culture was not unified but consisted of many groups drawn along the lines of gender, region and class. "You can't just say 'black folk'," Glaude said. "You have to look at the divisions." He also said he was concerned about the problems with radical black nationalism, saying how racism is not just a problem with white people. "Black is only an adjective," Glaude said. "It can never be a noun." Glaude's speech then moved on to the role of black intelligentsia, "the Talented Tenth," in shaping black culture. He thought that their job was to get to the grass roots level and work with the impoverished directly. He said he felt that many black thinkers came up with grand theories that could not be applied in the real world. "Intellectuals should look at black popular culture and design a strategy of intervention," Glaude said. "To help people you have to be on their level." Glaude finished by discussing current trends in black culture and popular culture in general. He gave his opinion on the extreme masculinist and homophobic traits of Afrocentricity and black nationalism. He also warned about the uprise of neo-Nazi and white power groups. "Much of white America is trying to redefine itself as a reaction to black nationalism," he said. After Glaude's speech, University students gave feedback and voiced their opinions. Undergraduates and several other doctoral candidates discussed the influence of black music on popular culture and the responsibility of black intellectuals to assist the poor.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.