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NOVEMBER 30 | NBC Heroes Employee Says There's Too Much Diversity in Hollywood

NOVEMBER 29 | Black Conservative Doesn't Want Oprah to Interview Obama on Christmas

NOVEMBER 28 | Peru Apologizes for Mistreatment of Afro-Peruvians

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DECEMBER 2 | Ten Things You Could Learn from Tiger Woods

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Manners and mores in modern life? It's about way more than where the fork goes.

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NOVEMBER 28 | The Tipping Factor

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From finance to foreclosures, layoffs and lack of opportunity, a daily journal of the economic crisis and its effect on black professionals.

NOVEMBER 27 | Making The Most With Less This Christmas

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Smart, up to the minute takes on politics--from the state house to the White House. Pull up a chair.

FEBRUARY 23 | Social Networks and Saddam Hussein: A Private Matter?

JANUARY 21 | Hillary Clinton Stands Up For Internet Diplomacy

JANUARY 20 | SATISFACTION, PRIDE OR DELIRIUM?

Engaging commentary, interviews, and reviews that delve into and beyond the world of books. Get read.

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MARCH 2 | The Best Gabourey Sidibe Interview So Far

FEBRUARY 17 | Would You Let Serena Williams Do Your Nails?

FEBRUARY 12 | John Mayer's Stupid Mouth

JENNIFER'S BLOG ROLL

    The Only Ones: The Underside of Integration?

    The Weekly Standard

    What does the First Family’s vacation destination reveal about the limits of integration and class within the black community? A whole lot, at least according to Touré, whose NEW YORK magazine article, “Black and White on Martha’s Vineyard” is still sparking fireworks.

    For generations, high-achieving African Americans who exist in elite, all-white environments during the rest of the year have flocked to the Oak Bluffs section of Martha’s Vineyard in order to mingle with other “Only Ones.” There, folks like Spike and Tanya Lee, Vernon Jordan and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., don’t have to explain themselves or defend their achievements. A shared understanding of the Only One pressure creates a bond that Touré interprets as“self-segregation.”

    Similar levels of achievement certainly make for cozy and memorable moments. But should the Obamas stay in Oak Bluff? Sure, the first family are truly Only Ones, like the rest of the Oak Bluff community. But at least one unnamed resident considers Michelle Obama a “ghetto girl,” who wouldn’t fit in. It's this “ghetto girl” comment that has attracted the steadiest stream of commentary on the article, and it also speaks to a viable, if absurd strain of thinking among African Americans.

    See, according to some Oak Bluff old-timers, not all Only Ones are created equal. Generational depth and affluence remain the line in the sand for some within the black elite. Whether it is skin color, counting generations of college graduates or tracing the family lineage back to free people, some highly accomplished African Americans seem more welcome in Oak Bluffs than others. Despite all of the progress, and all of the barriers that African Americans have transcended, it seems like some folks are still stuck debating the difference between the right and wrong kind of black people.

    And in that sense, Martha's Vineyard and its clan of Only Ones represent the unhealthy, competitive underside of integration. Obama should take a page from Vernon Jordan and skip the drama altogether.

    Jennifer Baszile is the author of The Black Girl Next Door.

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