The best explanation for Condoleezza Rice I've heard so far

The slavemaster took Tom and dressed him well, fed him well and even gave him a little education- a little education; gave him a long coat and a top hat and made all the other slaves look up to him. Then he used Tom to control them. The same strategy that was used in those days is used today, by the same white man. He takes a Negro, a so-called Negro, and makes him prominent, builds him up, publicizes him, makes him a celebrity. And then he becomes a spokesman for Negroes- and a Negro leader.

--"Message to the Grassroots" by Malcolm X