Drawing on theories by W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Gilroy, and
Bernard Bell, the article analyzes the nuanced identification
process of the black middle class in contemporary American
society through the close reading of Condoleezza Rice’s
Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family. The article
argues that the contemporary black American elite possess an
ambiguous relationship with the dominant white group and the
major subordinate black Americans, and their identification with
either group is largely driven by the interests of their own.
Moreover, in the post 9/11 era, race, gender, and class differences
are appropriated by these black elite to secure their own interests
in the power struggle in American society.