LAWRENCE OTIS GRAHAM: Our Kind of People

Inside America's Black Upper Class

Written by Barbara Babcock for the Paperstore, Inc., July 2000

Debutante cotillions. Arranged marriages. Summer trips to Martha's Vineyard. All-black boarding schools. Memberships in the Links, Deltas, Boule, or Jack and Jill. Million-dollar homes. An obsession with good hair, light complexions, top credentials, and colleges like Howard, Spelman, and Harvard.

This is the world of the black upper class, exclusive, mostly hidden group that lives awkwardly between

I know that there are class divisions in society, and readily admit I would rather have money than do without it; but I really do not care to read about the elite, since I feel that all of us have elitist tendencies, some base them around money, some around race, and some around knowledge or experience. I suppose that if I were really honest, there is a part of me that would wonder-oh-you are in that personal space now. That is all right. With experience and maturity, you will soon be out of it and set your sights on new horizons.

either because of family name, wealth, title, education, or other circumstance fashions itself a cut above the rest.

Through six years of interviews with more than three hundred prominent families and individuals, journalist and commentator Lawrence Otis Graham weaves together the revealing stories and fascinating experiences of upper-class blacks who grew up

And at the same time always striving for balance, I found the following personal review of Our Kind of People from someone who knew Graham in high school: I DO believe that this author is living his transformation within the pages of his books. Not

and The Right Fraternities and Sororities. As well as The Links and the Girl Friends: For Black Women Who Govern Society ; The Boule, the Guardsmen, and Other Groups for Elite Black Men; and Vacation Spots for the Black Elite. We also become acquainted with the Black Elite in Chicago,Washington, D.C., New York City; Memphis, Detroit,

Lawrence Otis Graham is a nationally known attorney and commentator on race, politics, and class in America. A contributing editor at U.S. News & World Report, he is the author of twelve other books, including Member of the Club and Proversity: Getting Past Face Value, as well as articles in the New York Times, Essence, and Glamour. The reason I mention this is that I am often intrigued by writers who do "well" - that is succeed at their craft. There is something fun about reading an author who writes well, as when reads for the story as well as the writing style.

while looking skeptically at any outsiders who can never make the grade. The reasons for forming such exclusive groups are often perfectly honorable, most commonly because members have been denied access to other organizations in the larger population. But matters can get out of hand, as Graham (Member of the Club: Reflections on Life in a Racially Polarized World, 1995) perhaps unwittingly demonstrates in his examination of what he calls the black elite. His is less of a critical examination and more of a glossary of people, places, and things constituting the black upper class. And as one might expect, this realm of

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Approximate Word count = 1818
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)