BS: Help: US Black Men, Leadership

Subject: BS: Help: US Black Men, Leadership
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Dec 08 - 09:27 AM

Apologies in advance for what I am sure will push some folks' buttons due to my word choice.

I'm looking for some sociological studies. In the progressive, liberal setting in which I once worked, "everyone" was familiar with an old pattern:

White committee chair: "We want diversity, so who can we recruit to get involved with [project]?"

White committee member: "I know [insert name of young business-casual male African American]..."

No one else would know anyone else to ask. Therefore that one person would then be invited. It would turn out that this young man was already involved in EVERYTHING-- being the current member of the AA community willing to poke his head out of the foxhole to take the "target" (token) role. The issues of "oreo" status were usually a dynamic that person was juggling in the black community. Their presewnce "representing" "their" people usually became quite an eduication for the committee folks, who really did want to achievce diversity but who had NO IDEA what that would invovle for them or for the AA "representative."

(Of course all "minorities" have probably gone thru this in their time, and still do.)

Anyway-- I know someone whose head is way out of the foxhole, and I am looking for "educated" descriptions of this phenomenon to help some well-meaning latter-day "liberals" take a little look at what they're messing with. Because sometimes the best source for eddicating the liberals ("majority") is the liberals, not the people they want to "study."

Eeewwwww.....

~Susan