Condemns those black intellectuals who, the author believes, have turned their backs on the tradition of racial activism in America. This work urges black intellectuals to forge both sacred and secular connections with local communities and rededicate themselves to social responsibility.

Hoover Institution senior fellow Shelby Steele; Yale law professor Stephen Carter; and Manhattan Institute fellow John McWhorter. His provocative investigation into their disingenuous posturing exposes what Baker deems a tragic betrayal of King's legacy.Baker concludes with a discussion of American myth and the role of the U.S. prison-industrial complex in the "disappearing" of blacks. Baker claims King would have criticized these black intellectuals for not persistently raising their voices against a private prison system that incarcerates so many men and women of color. To remedy this situation, Baker urges black intellectuals to forge both sacred and secular connections with local communities and rededicate themselves to social responsibility. As he sees it, the mission of the black intellectual today is not to do great things but to do specific, racially based work that is in the interest of the black majority.

Preface Introduction: Little Africa Jail: Southern Detention to Global Liberation Friends Like These: Race and Neoconservatism After Civil Rights: The Rise of Black Public Intellectuals Have Mask, Will Travel: Centrists from the Ivy League A Capital Fellow from Hoover: Shelby Steele Reflections of a First Amendment Trickster: Stephen Carter Man Without Connection: John McWhorter American Myth: Illusions of Liberty and Justice for All Prison: Colored Bodies, Private Profit Conclusion: What Then Must We Do? Notes Bibliography Index