Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have to fully admit that this was a hard read at times. As a black woman who grew up poor it is especially hard to confirm what you have always known as a child--that there is a Black Elite. I will start with the good in this book. Half of what Graham mentions from a historical standpoint I already knew, not because I have a degree in History but from research I'd done on my own. This book taps into the history rarely taught to mainstream America in general such as the Les Gens De Couleur Libres and the Black Republicans of the South. Also, Graham does an excellent job of listing the ways in which black elites attained their fortunes, either through an inheritance from the Master or from hard work. He gives excellent examples of blacks who were determined to be the best that they could be while they persevere against the segregation and injustices of the time. His thorough knowledge and insight is the reason that I have given him four stars. Now to the bad stuff. I was none too thrilled by the comments that his great grandmother made, especially the part about (paraphrasing) "Nappy head negroes protesting". What did she think they were supposed to do? The protests of that generation weren't as violent as the black youth of today. This books was not an eye opener of the black elites, particularly the ones who subscribe to the light, bright and damn near white because I can recall those very people looking down on me as a child. What I did find shocking is their indignation of how whites treating blacks as a whole while they lived in comfort, criticizing the average black person along the way. I can understand that a large majority of blacks may have been deserving of some of the criticism due to playing out some of the stereotypes leveled against them. However, I could not reconcile the idea of makes white people feel guilty when elite blacks wanted no part of ghetto children either. I found the identity crisis of black elites in this text disheartening and at times felt some empathy for them. It must have been difficult to be educated and affluent while having to apologize to lower class blacks who viewed them as sell outs. Conversely, it must have felt bad proving that you are just as good as your white counterparts yet hardly ever receiving recognition of such achievements. The problem I could not get past is the argument that you sympathized with the average black person while trying to pretend that you were not black. Not all of the black elites engage in such behavior. To use myself for example, I grew up poor but I am the only black person on my block. After an 8 year military career, graduating from the University of Washington and being the only black person on my dead end street, I also subscribe to staying away from those who draw too much attention, are loud, ghetto, crass and looking for trouble. Here's the difference between myself as a successful person and others. While I would not act the way a lot of black people do in the media, I am not ashamed to be black. When you start bleaching your skin, getting nose jobs to look white, passing for white and living as a white person and telling relatives to stay out of the sun because they will get "too black" you have taken it too far. Graham's accounts were honest. I am happy that some naturally light skinned people recognized the harm on behaving in such a manner. However, if you are going to look down on a part of what you are and cannot control don't blame white people for doing it too. Overall, this is a good read and a good conversation piece for all who may want to understand a hidden aspect of history or have a book club.