Black elite

The Black elite is any elite, either political or economic in nature, that is made up of people of predominantly or significantly Black African descent. In the Western World, it is typically distinct from—but nevertheless often overlaps with—other national elites, such as the United Kingdom's aristocracy and the United States' upper class.

United Kingdom

Francis Williams, an Afro-Caribbean British scholar and poet. A member of a landowning Afro-Jamaican family, he took British citizenship in 1723

The Nigerian British actor David Oyelowo has had a successful career in both Britain and America, where he has also taken U.S. citizenship. He was born into a royal family of the Nigerian chieftaincy system

The model Adwoa Aboah is a Ghanaian British descendant of the Lowthers of Lowther Castle, Earls of Lonsdale. Her earliest Lowther ancestor served as Lord Warden of the March of Western England in the 16th century

In the United Kingdom, the black community has largely consisted of immigrants whose residency in the country dates from either the time of the old Empire or that of the new Commonwealth. Be that as it may, people of significantly African descent have been a recognizable component of British society since at least the Elizabethan period, if not earlier.

An elite developed within the community over the course of several centuries by way of the assimilation of members of the older black elites of British Africa (such as Sara Forbes Bonetta), the birth of mixed race children of British aristocrats (such as Dido Elizabeth Belle), the rise of several black and mixed race national leaders (such as Paul Boateng), and the entry of large numbers of black and mixed race individuals into specialized industries like the arts (such as Lenny Henry).

Like their counterparts in America and elsewhere, many members of the black elite historically took part in the campaign to abolish slavery in the empire. Some, like Olaudah Equiano, even became politically prominent by way of their efforts.

Following the abolition in the early 1800s, prominent blacks continued to feature in Britain's social life in the following centuries. Mary Seacole was a heroine of the Crimean War, and Learie Constantine was later an important cricketer.

Today, many of Britain's black and mixed race people appear in the annual Powerlist - a ranking of the nation's most prominent people of colour. A number of them - such as Boateng and Henry - are also peers and/or knights of the realm. There is also a small community of British aristocrats that are of black descent. A notable member of this latter sub-group is the mixed race royal Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who is currently the heir apparent to the noble titles that are held by his father .

United States

A chief of the Crow Nation, James Beckwourth was the son of a British aristocrat and his African-American slave mistress. He is now regarded as being the most important Black mountain man in the history of the Old West

A writer and social activist, Langston Hughes was one of the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance. His family, the Langstons, belonged to the Talented Tenth

The tennis champion and AIDS campaigner Arthur Ashe. At the time of his death, he was commonly thought of as being a member of the African-American upper class, and his direct line of descent in America could be traced all the way back to 1735

In the North of the United States, many educated blacks—taking advantage of their relative freedom—took part in abolitionist and suffragist activities. Members of what Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois would later call the Talented Tenth, they also provided support to stations of the Underground Railroad prior to the abolition of slavery.

In the South, an elite started forming before the American Civil War among free blacks who managed to acquire property. Of the free people of color in North Carolina in the censuses from 1790 to 1810, 80% can be traced to African Americans free in Virginia during the colonial period. Free blacks migrated from Virginia to other states over several generations, as did many of their neighbors. Extensive research into colonial court records, wills and deeds has demonstrated that most of those free families came from relationships or marriages between white women, servant or free, and black men, servant, free or slave. Such relationships were part of the more fluid relationships among the working class before the boundaries of slavery hardened.[1]

During the 19th century, there were additional relationships between whites and blacks, not always of a consensual nature. What is notorious is that white slaveholders could take advantage of slave women because of their power. There were also slaveholders who had caring relationships, common-law marriages, and even real marriages with black slave women, and who sometimes freed them and their children. Some slaveholders did provide for their mixed-race children by ensuring they got education although, in other cases, they were simply apprenticed to a trade or craft. Whatever property the father passed on to the child was important in helping that person get a start in life. These mulattos in turn patterned their subsequent lives after "polite" white society. In some places, such as New Orleans, this system coalesced into what was known as Plaçage.

In the South, because of their head start in acquiring property, the black elite began to exercise leadership roles within the church, black schools, and community, but as in any society, there were natural leaders who rose up from many different classes.

Catering services and other skilled employment were important because they had the white contacts needed to remain within the “status quo”. The black elite also enjoyed the benefits of living within the white neighborhoods, which further isolated them from the darker-skinned African Americans and which caused many of them to blame them for the downward shifts in life-style choices. Some lighter skinned blacks even passed for white, and were assimilated into white society thereafter.

The Civil Rights Movement and affirmative action brought about many changes for the black elite. As the old elite died away, it made room for the new black elite to emerge. Within its ranks are the educated, the politicians, the entrepreneurs, actors, singers, and those who are otherwise part of America's wider upper-middle class.

Other examples

In addition to those that have already been cited, communities from around the world that either are or once were generally thought to constitute a Black elite include:

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Notes

Paul Heinegg, Free African Americans in Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Delaware

References

Benjamin, Lois; The Black Elite, Nelson-hall Publishers/Chicago, 1991.
Landry, Bart.; The New Black Middle Class, University of California Press, 1987.