full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Clint Smith: How to raise a black son in America

Unscramble the Blue Letters


All of my black fneidrs were raised with the same message, the talk, given to us when we became old enough to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground, when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared.

But what does it do to a child to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child? That the whims of alceeocsnde are too dangerous for your breath, that you cannot simply be curious, that you are not afforded the lxuruy of making a mistake, that someone's icpimilt bias might be the reason you don't wake up in the morning.

But this cannot be what defines us. Because we have parents who raised us to understand that our bodies weren't meant for the bisadcke of a bullet, but for flying kites and jmunpig rope, and laughing until our stomachs burst. We had teachers who taught us how to raise our hnads in class, and not just to signal surrender, and that the only thing we should give up is the idea that we aren't whroty of this wlord. So when we say that black lievs matter, it's not because others don't, it's simply because we must affirm that we are worthy of existing without fear, when so many things tell us we are not. I want to live in a world where my son will not be presumed guilty the mnmeot he is born, where a toy in his hand isn't miaketsn for anything other than a toy.

Open Cloze


All of my black _______ were raised with the same message, the talk, given to us when we became old enough to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground, when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared.

But what does it do to a child to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child? That the whims of ___________ are too dangerous for your breath, that you cannot simply be curious, that you are not afforded the ______ of making a mistake, that someone's ________ bias might be the reason you don't wake up in the morning.

But this cannot be what defines us. Because we have parents who raised us to understand that our bodies weren't meant for the ________ of a bullet, but for flying kites and _______ rope, and laughing until our stomachs burst. We had teachers who taught us how to raise our _____ in class, and not just to signal surrender, and that the only thing we should give up is the idea that we aren't ______ of this _____. So when we say that black _____ matter, it's not because others don't, it's simply because we must affirm that we are worthy of existing without fear, when so many things tell us we are not. I want to live in a world where my son will not be presumed guilty the ______ he is born, where a toy in his hand isn't ________ for anything other than a toy.

Solution


  1. lives
  2. mistaken
  3. friends
  4. backside
  5. world
  6. implicit
  7. moment
  8. jumping
  9. luxury
  10. adolescence
  11. hands
  12. worthy

Original Text


All of my black friends were raised with the same message, the talk, given to us when we became old enough to be mistaken for a nail ready to be hammered to the ground, when people made our melanin synonymous with something to be feared.

But what does it do to a child to grow up knowing that you cannot simply be a child? That the whims of adolescence are too dangerous for your breath, that you cannot simply be curious, that you are not afforded the luxury of making a mistake, that someone's implicit bias might be the reason you don't wake up in the morning.

But this cannot be what defines us. Because we have parents who raised us to understand that our bodies weren't meant for the backside of a bullet, but for flying kites and jumping rope, and laughing until our stomachs burst. We had teachers who taught us how to raise our hands in class, and not just to signal surrender, and that the only thing we should give up is the idea that we aren't worthy of this world. So when we say that black lives matter, it's not because others don't, it's simply because we must affirm that we are worthy of existing without fear, when so many things tell us we are not. I want to live in a world where my son will not be presumed guilty the moment he is born, where a toy in his hand isn't mistaken for anything other than a toy.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations




Important Words


  1. adolescence
  2. affirm
  3. afforded
  4. backside
  5. bias
  6. black
  7. bodies
  8. born
  9. breath
  10. bullet
  11. burst
  12. child
  13. class
  14. curious
  15. dangerous
  16. defines
  17. existing
  18. fear
  19. feared
  20. flying
  21. friends
  22. give
  23. ground
  24. grow
  25. guilty
  26. hammered
  27. hand
  28. hands
  29. idea
  30. implicit
  31. jumping
  32. kites
  33. knowing
  34. laughing
  35. live
  36. lives
  37. luxury
  38. making
  39. matter
  40. meant
  41. melanin
  42. message
  43. mistake
  44. mistaken
  45. moment
  46. morning
  47. nail
  48. parents
  49. people
  50. presumed
  51. raise
  52. raised
  53. ready
  54. reason
  55. rope
  56. signal
  57. simply
  58. son
  59. stomachs
  60. surrender
  61. synonymous
  62. talk
  63. taught
  64. teachers
  65. toy
  66. understand
  67. wake
  68. whims
  69. world
  70. worthy