This essay came as a bit of a shock, given how much my Pre-Engineering classmates and I were told that we had a responsibility, as part of the talented tenth, to give back to the community. The phrase was also part of my grandparents' generational idea of Black uplift, and being "a credit to the race." So, seeing just how men-only and elite focused this work is should never have shocked me, but it did. Every assembly started/ended with a reminder of the Dunbar legacy, in DC, and Lift Every Voice and Sing, as a reminder that we had a duty to give back, and to lead. But it was never this strikingly clear just how elitist that idea could be, until I finally read the essay that popularized the phrase, but which I was again shocked to learn that Du Bois did not originate. Nevertheless, much of what he said remains valid, even to this day, sadly.

Just a few of his comments, and mine, as I read the essay (via The Internet Archive):

"There can be but one answer : The best and most capable of their youth
must be schooled in the colleges and universities of the land. "

No, this is not current popular grass-roots ideology, but is it true that anyone can do quantum physics? Every person capable of grasping higher concepts must be encouraged to do so, for the benefit of all human potential.


47.62% " ...it placed before the eyes of almost every Negro child an attainable ideal. "

On the importance of teachers as role models...


59.52% " Negro teachers have
been discouraged by starvation wages and the
idea that any training will do for a black
teacher."

This includes the still low expectations for us by most white people.
Even to this day.


Pretty abrupt end to the essay, and it makes a devastating point.
Please read it.