"Who we are depends on who we believe we are." - Chpt. 7
Stars: 4/5
In his book, Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Eugene Robinson, proposes that the once monolithic Black America has been fractionalized into four distinct groups:
1) The Abandoned. These are the marginalized, the poor, the working poor and the disenfranchised; think those trapped on rooftops during Hurricane Katrina. These are the Black Americans who are stuck in a generational cycle of welfare, teen pregnancy, and lackluster public education; they live in urban dwellings and rely on public transportation.
2) The Mainstream. Once known as the Middle Class is now an ever-growing body of Black Americans. Those Abandoned fortunate enough to break the cycle have launched themselves into this group.
3) Transcendent Elite. Those with the resources (money or power) to command. Those who have seemingly launched into the stratosphere of Black America; think Oprah, Obama, Will Smith, Bob & Shelia Johnson, a select few African American CEOs, etc....
4) Emergent. The newest and fastest growing of the four groups, consisting of two sub-groups: bi-racial and Black immigrants. Both labeled as Black by default.
Robinson recalls that during the Civil Rights era that Black Americans marched as one because Black Americans were oppressed as one. In the 21st Century, it is clear, for example, that Mainstream Black America marches to a different drum beat, while the drums of the Abandoned go unheard. Since one can no longer depict and address Black America as one in solidarity, Robinson sets aside Chapter 9, Urgency, Focus, and Sacrifice, to offer some advice on moving forward.
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