Adolph Reed condemned black public intellectuals as Washington-style sellouts to white audiences

Evidence

Adolph Reed argues that black public intellectuals who speak to diverse white and black audiences are little more than modern-day versions of Booker T. Washington, rewriting or explaining the mysteries of black America to please white audiences. According to Reed, such intellectuals turn their backs on a black constituency by refusing to address the collective capabilities of African-Americans. Moreover, they gush over each other’s fame, and produce second-rate scholarly work. In the end, Reed dismisses black public intellectuals because they “are able to skirt the practical requirements of… avoiding both rigorous, careful intellectual work and protracted committed political action.” — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2672

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to debates about public intellectuals, respectability politics, and the Booker T. Washington tradition in African American thought.