ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the impact of diversity on the power elite and the rest of American society. The power elite and Congress are more diverse than they were before the civil rights movement and the social movements that followed in its train brought pressure to bear on corporations, politicians, and government. The African American members of the corporate elite and the cabinet tended to come from the small black middle class that predated the civil rights movement. Education seems to have given them the edge needed to make their way into the power elite. In summary, class origins, an excellent education, and the proper appearance, are the building blocks for entry into the power elite, but identity management is the final step, the icing on the cake. The impetus for greater diversity did not come from within the power elite but was the result of external pressures brought to bear by the civil rights movement.
