The Racial Bifurcation of Community Development: Implications for Community Development Practitioners

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Abstract
Consensus and dissensus models of development, and the underlying assumptions of each approach, are presented and discussed. The findings of a reputational leadership survey conducted in a metropolitan area with a large minority population are then outlined. They indicate that the minority population leadership represents more of a subcommunity than part of an overall, integrated leadership structure. Implications of the survey results for practitioners in communities where leadership is divided along racial lines are discussed. These practitioners may face built-in dissensus situations where contesting, rather than collaborative, strategies of purposive change are present.