Young, Gifted and Diverse

Origins of the New Black Elite

Camille Z. Charles, Douglas S. Massey, Kimberly C. Torres, Rory Kramer

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780691237459, 9780691237381
• eBook ISBN: 9780691237398
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Knowledge Capital
• Index: Social Sciences

An in-depth look at the rising American generation entering the Black professional class

Despite their diversity, Black Americans have long been studied as a uniformly disadvantaged group. Drawing from a representative sample of over a thousand Black students and in-depth interviews and focus groups with over one hundred more, Young, Gifted and Diverse highlights diversity among the new educated Black elite—those graduating from America's selective colleges and universities in the early twenty-first century.

Differences in childhood experiences shape this generation, including their racial and other social identities and attitudes, and beliefs about and interactions with one another. While those in the new Black elite come from myriad backgrounds and have varied views on American racism, as they progress through college and toward the Black professional class they develop a shared worldview and group consciousness. They graduate with optimism about their own futures, but remain guarded about racial equality more broadly. This internal diversity alongside political consensus among the elite complicates assumptions about both a monolithic Black experience and the future of Black political solidarity.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Authors’ Note
• 1. Black Diversity in Historical Perspective
• 2. Origins of the New Black Elite
• 3. Experiences of Segregation
• 4. Identities and Attitudes
• 5. Pathways to Elite Education
• 6. Campus Social Experiences
• 7. Downsides of Upward Mobility
• 8. Emerging Elite Identities
• 9. Leaks in the Pipeline
• 10. Convergence and Intersectionality in the Black Elite
• Appendix A: Multivariate Models of Student Outcomes
• Appendix B: Interview Guide
• Appendix C: Table of Qualitative Sample of Black Students Interviewed in Conjunction with the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen
• Appendix D: Focus-Group Conversation Guide
• References
• Index