On Martha's Vineyard, black elites ponder the past year

[KoKo]

EDGARTOWN, Mass. – For America’s black elite, this year’s seasonal sojourn to Martha’s Vineyard turned into a soul-searching retreat.

The shooting of a young, unarmed black man in Ferguson, Mo., last year did little to disrupt the annual idyll of upper-class blacks on this island 1,200 miles away. Photos showed President Barack Obama dancing at a soiree for political power couple Vernon and Ann Jordan as Ferguson burned. The next afternoon he delivered an anodyne statement urging calm without mentioning race.

Obama returned this year for his sixth summer in office on Martha’s Vineyard, the island off the Massachusetts coast that has been a vacation destination for upwardly mobile African Americans for more than a century. But this year, many of the black doctors, lawyers, executives, professors and politicians who gather here to enjoy the sunshine, surf and cultural events are grappling with the realization that there may not be quite as much to celebrate as they once hoped.

Yes, the country has been led by a black president for nearly seven years. But images from body cameras and smart phones that have splashed police killings of unarmed black men across televisions and the Internet over the past year have forced the black elite to recognize — along with the rest of America — that their highest tide has left some boats sinking faster than ever.

“Middle-class African-Americans, the upper echelon, need to be cognizant of that,” said Linda D. Gaines, a regular summer resident of Martha’s Vineyard. “We cannot go back to our comfortable abodes and forget the struggle even though we don’t live next-door to less fortunate communities.”

The strides African Americans have taken in the American political establishment are on full display here each year. While Martha’s Vineyard has played host to black leaders for generations – Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X vacationed here – the top figures no longer lead protests. They lead the government.

Ten days ago, amid the starched white tablecloths, polished wood banquettes and French windows at the contemporary American restaurant Alchemy in tony Edgartown, the president and first lady may have been enticed by a cold summer squash soup with lump crab, fried oysters with remoulade and NY Strip-frites. They dined with close friends who happened to be the former attorney general (Eric Holder), the former U.S. trade representative (Ron Kirk) and the current national security adviser (Susan Rice).

The island doesn’t just offer fun and games. Every year, in mid-August, the Vineyard also turns into think tank in paradise, convening discussions on issues relevant to the black community, who started flocking here more than a century ago. This year, four events in four days focused on policing reform, mass incarceration and how the protesters on the streets of cities including Ferguson and Baltimore (and the resulting hashtags on Twitter) are changing the face of the civil rights movement. Regular attendees couldn’t recall such such consistent themes in the past.

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http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/marthas-vineyard-black-elite-discussion-racial-tension-121628.html?ml=tb