In 1994, Marc Elrich, then a 6th-grade teacher in Montgomery County MD, showed his class a film based on a Langston Hughes story about a young black boy who attempts to steal the purse of an elderly black woman. He fails and the woman takes him into her home, where she proceeds to apply generous amounts of love and understanding to his wounds. Here is what followed
"An “A” student, who is black, raised his hand and said "You knew something bad was going to happen when it started. As soon as you see a black boy you know he's gonna do something bad."
Me: "Just because he's black, he's bad?"
Student: "Everybody knows that black people are bad. That's the way we are."
I cried when I read it. 24 years later I still cry when I think of it. Read the
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Marc is now the leading candidate for County Executive of Montgomery County, a Washington suburb, the largest county in Maryland.