Several Black political commentators consider themselves the “talented tenth.” W.E.B. Dubois coined the term “talented tenth” at the turn of the twentieth century. Between 1865 and 1900, the majority of Black Americans received industrial education. Dubois believed that 10 percent of the most outstanding Black Americans should pursue higher education and that “talented tenth” would drive the growth of the Black race. Following the Civil Rights Movement’s victories, the “talented tenth” became unnecessary. However, “higher-educated” Blacks aspired to emulate the “talented tenth” but instead developed a “Black intelligentsia.” The term “intelligentsia” refers to a group of intellectuals who are part of the artistic, social, or political elite. This is not a group of leaders dedicated to advancing the Black race, as Dubois envisioned. The Black intelligentsia is a progressive group of elitists. Despite seeing themselves as champions fighting the “White establishment” on behalf of Black people, the Black intelligentsia remain disconnected from the people they claim to represent. Economist Thomas Sowell famously defined them as self-anointed proponents of a “worldview concocted out of fantasy, impervious to any real-world considerations.” The Black intelligentsia supported Democratic nominee and current vice president Kamala Harris for president because Harris was a member of their progressive elitist group, not because she had better policy positions than Republican nominee Donald Trump or because she was a woman of color. The Black intelligentsia campaigned for Harris by telling audiences that MAGA supporters were sexist and racist, Trump posed a fascist threat to democracy, and Americans had a moral duty to vote against him. However, the Black intelligentsia ignored the fact that when a presidential administration presided over a weak economy, it loses reelection, regardless of party. Even though Vice President Harris ran a lousy campaign and presided over a poor economy, the Black intelligentsia expected Americans to vote for her rather than for their own interests. Harris lost both the electoral college and the popular vote. Blueprint polls asked voters why they did not support Harris. All voters cited high inflation under the Biden/Harris administration as their primary reason for not supporting Harris. The second issue that all voters cited was the excessive number of illegal immigrants who crossed the border during the Biden/Harris administration. However, all swing voters who voted for Trump agreed that Harris prioritized cultural issues like transgender rights over helping the middle class. Many voters also saw Harris as the embodiment of leftist identity politics, and they preferred Trump’s America-first motto over Harris’ divisive philosophy. Following Harris’ defeat, the Black intelligentsia felt it was their moral responsibility to explain to America the “real reasons” behind Harris’ loss to Trump. MSNBC analyst Joy Reid dismissed the fact that Harris was a lackluster candidate with no policy proposals of her own, claiming that Harris ran a flawless campaign. What made it flawless? Because Queen Latifah endorsed Harris. Reid deemed the endorsement significant given that Queen Latifah rarely endorses candidates. Reid also emphasized that Talyor Swift and Cardi B supported Harris. Reid expected the massive fan bases of these celebrities to automatically vote for Harris. Given that they clearly did not, Reid said, “Anyone who has been in the United States for any period of time and knows this country’s history cannot have believed it would be easy to elect a woman president, let alone a woman of color.” In other words, because Harris conducted a flawless campaign, the only elements explaining her defeat are sexism and racism. However, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016 with 2.9 million more votes than Donald Trump, whereas Harris received almost 6.5 million more popular votes than Clinton and Barack Obama in 2012. Reid’s sexist and racist calculations do not add up. During a panel discussion, an MSNBC host stated that inflation was a major factor in Harris’s loss. Many voters felt basic necessities became too expensive under the Biden/Harris administration. Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. flatly denied that Harris’ loss had anything to do with economics. He suggested that White people believed that “Whiteness” was under threat in America and that they voted to maintain their supremacy. When the White host disagreed with Glaude’s assessment and emphasized the economic factors that contributed to Harris’ defeat, Glaude said, “I do not believe that. I can’t believe that. And I suppose you believe it because you don’t want to realize that’s what’s truly motivating them… They voted for a crook… Someone they know is doing everything they can to destroy the so-called country they love, and now they’re telling us it’s all about economics. We know that isn’t true.” Since Glaude can’t accept the facts, the falsehood he believes must be true. Professor Tressie McMillian Cottom didn’t believe Trump won due to economic factors either. She told an interviewer: Too many people have said that identity politics is a distraction from real issues that matter to voters. The problem with that assessment is that American politics is identity politics. Donald Trump proved that people of color and women are not the only ones who have an identity, and he capitalized on the most powerful identity in America—White identity. He encouraged Whites that they did not have to be ashamed of their identity. Cottom claimed that Trump expertly used identity politics, but it is not true that Democrats lose because of identity politics; elections are about who’s identities win, and Democrats must double down on the identities of their base and play the game Trump did. Meanwhile, following Harris’ defeat, moderate Democrats were telling their colleagues that identity politics was “killing them” at the polls. Sowell was right when he said the Black intelligentsia’s worldview is impervious to real-world considerations.     The post J. Pharoah Doss: With an intelligentsia like this who needs idiots? appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.