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Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class Paperback – December 22, 1999

by Lawrence Otis Graham (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars 354 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (December 22, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060984384
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060984380
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (354 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsTAKE YOUR TIME WITH THIS ONE...
By P. Fuller on August 8, 2006
Format: Paperback
I must admit that I read this book prior to attending graduate school at Yale University. One of the sole reasons I picked up this read was because I had not grown up being spoon fed with silver, but rather I wanted to become more acquainted with those I knew I would be coming across attending an Ivy League school such as this. I echo sentiments that this book had to be eaten in small portions because of its repetitiveness and my general amazment and reaffirmation of the bias that goes on within my own Black community. Yet, I feel the book sufficiently prepared me for those Jack and Jillers (and everything else inbetween) I have since met and the history behind the Black elite in general.

It is wonderful to know that the Black elite existed and still exists to this day. Nevertheless, the absence of respect portrayed within this book from elite Blacks to one another and to those of less fortune is sad and disappointing. No individual regardless of race, class, or creed should be treated in this manner. For those who have read or are considering reading this book, do so with an open mind and take care not to become disenchanted by the words on the page. I have used this literature as an opportunity to appreciate my own upbringing from parents who simply told me to work hard and your efforts will pay off. For me, this world and its simple pleasures are nothing compared to the eternal one that awaits us all.
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5.0 out of 5 starswhy the controversy over the truth?
By A Customer on October 5, 1999
Format: Hardcover
I resisted reading this book because of all the controversy and hype that it attracted. When I saw it on the L.A. Times bestseller list and the N.Y. Times list, and then in my Book of the Month club magazine, I figured it was a book for white people to learn about wealthy blacks. After seeing it on Essence's September bestseller list, I broke down and read it. I've lived many of the experiences that are in this book--the Martha's Vineyard crowd, Howard U. relatives, debutante cotillions, Jack & Jill parties--and the stuff is true. We may not want to hear it, but this book is chock full of dates and history about when and why these groups got started. We hear all this information about whites in other social history books. Why is it so controversial when we learn about the truth behind wealthy blacks? Yeah, it's gossipy and showy, but there are lots of interviews and stories about incredible black politicians, entrepreneurs, physicians, attorneys, college presidents and others whom we should be proud to know about. Just because the author isn't profiling Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and Puff Daddy, doesn't mean we should all slam the book. Black success includes more than athletes and celebrities. Why is everybody so afraid of it? The pictures of famous families and data on the colleges and our fraternities, alone, made Our Kind of People an important social history. I didn't like a lot of the snobbery of some of the people, but the experiences and information they shared gave me an insight to a segment of black America that we never hear about.
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1.0 out of 5 starsGlad I'm not "His Kind of People"
By A Customer on May 2, 1999
Format: Hardcover
I'm not going to attack Graham - his grandmother trying to shade him and his brother from the sun - shed some insight into his identity problems (was that a subtle attack?).
Well - let's see - I'm Black (I fail the paperbag test), raised in Jack and Jill, attended private grade schools, introduced to society in a Delta Cotillion (1986), attended a private predominantly white educational institution for my undergraduate and I am currently enrolled in a top 5 B-School in Chicago. According to Graham's definition (and after reading some of their comments), thankfully, I am not a member of the "black elite".
My paternal-grandmother, born in 1915, is a graduate of Mississippi Industrial College. My mother and father graduated from a HBCU, Philander-Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. A fine institution that doesn't make Graham's list of TOP HBCUs. My family is full of Links, nurses, Girlfriends, maids, Deltas, AKAs, Omegas, Alpha's, career-students, Boule Members, unemployed individuals, lawyers, doctors, single mothers, Vice Presidents, farmers, entrepreneurs, project dwellers, Trucking Company Owners, welfare mothers, teachers, and the list goes on...
I haven't kept in touch with my Jack-and-Jill friends, I would have to say it's due to the passage of time, growing up and moving on. The experiences in Jack-and-Jill were rewarding and unique compared to other children in my working-class black neighborhood. I believe it is because of those experiences that I view playing chess, skiing, golf, theater and opera as favorite past times instead of as activities for "white people". My cotillion gave me a self-confidence that I cherish today. I can recall the etiquette classes and still do a mean waltz!Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsI changed my mind and read the book
By Changed Mind on February 18, 2000
Format: Paperback
After watching a rerun of BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley last night, I felt that I had to respond to the negative comments made against this book.
I did not want to read this book because I was convinced that it fed into the negativity of colorism that is still pervasive in our community. In the book, Graham does constantly talk about the right skin complexion, the right pedigree, the right religion and the right education. After a while, I must admit, it did get tiresome. That is besides the point. I think that this publication provides a good starting point for the discussion of CLASS in the African American community . I am truly sadden that we do not always celebrate individuals who achieved in the face of societal racism. You have be an athlete or a performer to have money. We have glamourized the ghetto and "street niggers". The struggling single black mother and the absent black father have become the most pervasive image we have of the black family. We automatically assume that if a black person does well without programs like affirmative action (like these individuals did) they do so at the expense of other blacks.
This book should be encouraged reading not because it is particularly well written (I don't think it is) or because infiltrating this world would be ideal (it would not be). This book adds to the complete history of African Americans.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Good book.

Published 7 days ago by snow white
5.0 out of 5 starscounternarrative on black america

Very interesting read that contradicts the prevailing media image of black america, i.e., there are middle class and wealthy black americans.

Published 13 days ago by Tory
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat addition to my library.

I just started to read it and I am finding it very informative.

Published 28 days ago by Mary Arrington
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read for sentient beings

There is so much in this book that I as a black man, raised in a middle - poor class neighborhood didn't know and most likely would have never known if I hadn't found this... Read more

Published 1 month ago by M. S. Fair
5.0 out of 5 starsMy Eyes are now Open

Very interesting book I never realized that we had a black upper class society complete with organizations and social clubs with history going back that far. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Willeat50
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Haven't had a chance to start reading it, but I am very familiar with the author.

Published 2 months ago by William T. Lipscomb, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great Read

Published 3 months ago by Ty
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Very good insight into the world of the privileged african American society.

Published 4 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Price was great and arrived in a timely manner!

Published 4 months ago by PJ
5.0 out of 5 starsI love this book from a history aspect

I love this book from a history aspect, but would like a more 21st century update. Are these ideas still being practiced among people of color? Read more

Published 5 months ago by windycitymom

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