The Talented Tenth
 

How do you all feel about what this poet has articulated in this poem? Do you agree or disagree? I was told via a listserve that DuBois later rejected the Talented Tenth concept. But I still want to know your thoughts on the "talented tenth" and what this poem postulates.


The Talented Tenth
by Dr. Ridgely A. Mu'min

Where, oh where did the "Talented Tenth" go?
They got lost somewhere in the masta’s snow.
Some of the talent was lost up their nose,
The other was lost on designer clothes,
But one thing is plain to see,
It all left the community.
Thirty-five to sixty-five,
The lost generation,
We sent them off to college to get an education,
But all they found there was basic training at the grooming stations for the masta’s plantation.
They even took their cap and gowns
To the other side of town,
Leaving their communities and businesses and institutions behind,
Running after that acceptance they would never find.
They were not accepted on the white side,
And too ashamed to come back on the black side.
Where, oh where did the "Talented Tenth" go?
They got lost somewhere in the masta’s snow.