From the northern Baptists' perspective, a well-educated black vanguard constituted a buffer between white society and the black masses… . In the event of rebellion, the Talented Tenth would serve as a critical mediating force between several million oppressed blacks and white America.24 Du Bois's conceptualization of the Talented Tenth was distinct from the visions of white missionaries and other black leaders like Booker T. Washington, who primarily advocated industrial, manual training for blacks and accommodation in matters of civil rights. In Du Bois's view, a classical liberal arts
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