Ellis Cose.

The concept of a black leader whose flock--a monolithic black America--will follow like "lemmings in thrall to clay-footed messiahs," is obsolete, writes Newsweek Contributing Editor Ellis Cose in the magazine's Jan. 29 issue. "Black leaders are, for the most part, anointed by the television and the press, selected largely for their ability at sound bites," writes Cose in response to last month's fervor over the news that the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson fathered a "love child." The construct is driven by the media's need "for easily identifiable, provocative spokespersons to trot out whenever 'black' issues arise," Cose notes. "Perhaps a new generation will reject the idea of a black Caesar, realizing that one person can no more represent the hopes and aspirations of all blacks than one leader can represent whites in all matters of public consequence," he writes.