White sociologist Andrew Hacker is the latest expert on black authenticity. Participating in a roundtable discussion reported in Essence, Hacker, the author of Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal, explained that General Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had to act white to succeed in the military. Hacker said, "He put 99 percent of himself, or his black self, on hold, in the back, because he was ambitious, wanted to get ahead, and did."

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