Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.
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I'm Clint Smith and this is
"Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class."
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You, it seems,
are the manifestation
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of several lifetimes
of toil.
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Brown v. Board
in flesh.
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Most days
the classroom feels
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like an antechamber.
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You are deemed expert
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on all things Morrison,
King, Malcolm, Rosa.
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Hell, weren’t you sitting
on that bus, too?
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You are every-
body’s best friend
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until you are not.
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Hip-hop lyricologist.
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Presumed athlete.
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Free & Reduced sideshow.
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Exception and caricature.
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Too black and too white
all at once.
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If you are successful
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it is because
of affirmative action.
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If you fail it is because
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you were destined to.
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You are invisible until they turn on
the Friday night lights.
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Here you are star before
they render you asteroid.
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Before they watch
you turn to dust.
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