Thread by @GeeDee215, Congrats to this brother and also: these viral feel-good stories always have [...]

Congrats to this brother and also: these viral feel-good stories always have glaring omissions of context

Like, how is it that a school in OAKLAND that’s been around for 100 years has never had a Black valedictorian? https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1385684908480335878">https://twitter.com/CBSNews/s...

https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1385684908480335878

Also, one way you know it’s almost May is that the exceptional Black kid who got accepted to a bunch of elite university stories are all dropping

(Or the perennial story about UP in Chicago and their “100% college acceptance rate”) https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/He-s-Oakland-Tech-s-first-Black-male-16118790.php">https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/art...

He's Oakland Tech's first Black male valedictorian and he just got accepted into 11 universities

The first-ever Black male valedictorian at Oakland Technical High School not only has a...

https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/He-s-Oakland-Tech-s-first-Black-male-16118790.php

http://www.thedp.com/article/2019/04/ivy-league-harvard-yale-penn-princeton-dartmouth-cornell-columbia-brown-acceptance">https://www.thedp.com/article/2...

Texas high school student accepted to all eight Ivy League schools

Jeramy Botwe, a high school senior from Texas, was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools. Botwe's father is originally from Ghana and came to the United States as a teenager.

http://www.thedp.com/article/2019/04/ivy-league-harvard-yale-penn-princeton-dartmouth-cornell-columbia-brown-acceptance

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/craig-mcfarland-ivy-league-accepted.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/2...

This Florida Student Was Accepted at All 8 Ivy League Schools. (He Chose Yale.)

Craig McFarland, the valedictorian of his high school in Jacksonville, Fla., received acceptance letters from 17 colleges and universities in all.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/craig-mcfarland-ivy-league-accepted.html

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-senior-accepted-to-all-ivy-league-schools-makes-her-choice/2124377/">https://www.nbcboston.com/news/loca...

Mass. Senior Accepted to All Ivy League Schools Makes Her Choice

A Massachusetts high school senior who was accepted to all eight Ivy League colleges has decided to attend Columbia University in New York City. Roberta Hannah, of Springfield, told WWLP-TV she plans...

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-senior-accepted-to-all-ivy-league-schools-makes-her-choice/2124377/

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/meet-the-student-accepted-into-every-ivy-league-school/">https://www.cbsnews.com/video/mee...

Meet the student accepted into every Ivy League school

An ambitious high school student from New York pulled off the college admissions jackpot by getting acceptance letters from every single one of the nation's Ivy League schools. "CBS This Morning"...

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/meet-the-student-accepted-into-every-ivy-league-school/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/04/02/from-stanford-to-harvard-this-teen-applied-to-20-colleges-and-got-full-rides-to-all-of-them/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/educ...

From Stanford to Harvard, this teen applied to 20 colleges — and got full rides to all of them

Micheal Brown, 17, has said he was inspired watching his mother go back to college when he was in elementary school.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/04/02/from-stanford-to-harvard-this-teen-applied-to-20-colleges-and-got-full-rides-to-all-of-them/

I dunno, man. These stories make my antennae twitch.

What work are they doing?

Aside Re: @IBJIYONGI’s point about “the ruling class,” there was a version of this from 1990 in the NYT when a big-eared law student became the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review. (He pointed out the broader context that shapes “firstness.”) https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html">https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/0...

First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review (Published 1990)

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/06/us/first-black-elected-to-head-harvard-s-law-review.html

“But it& #39;s important that stories like mine aren& #39;t used to say that everything is O.K for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent....”

(Funny bc he became shorthand for “racism is over.”)

Latest Threads Unrolled: