>In a video being widely circulated on Twitter on Monday morning, Royce Mann, an eighth grade student from Atlanta, is shown performing a slam poem titled “White Boy Privilege.”
>Across the social network, the video is being celebrated as the definition of responsible self-analysis by a white American at a time when racial tensions seem to be ever-increasing.
>“If my kid grows up to be anything like this kid, I will be the proudest,” wrote one commenter. “If a child can get it, if a child can preach it, than any adult can, they choose not too,” added another.
>The mixed-race audience of all ages watching Mann is captivated by the transparency that ensues. Older women can be heard affirming his observations in off camera “oohs” and “ahhs.”
>“That was the first time I did slam poetry. I wrote it because I became aware of white privilege this year. We have a class called Race, Class and Gender that everyone has to take, and I got really passionate about how unfair it is.”
>His school originally posted the video on Facebook in May, where it gained tens of thousands of views, he said, but they took it down because officials were unable to monitor the comments. About two weeks ago, he rereleased the video onto YouTube, where it has been growing, especially over the last few days.
>“Most of the negative comments aren’t content-based, which frustrates me. Like, if they’re just going to start calling me names, then I don’t respect their viewpoint. But when people say they disagree with me about something content-based, then we can have a discussion.”
>“We just don’t see people as individuals,” he said. “That’s at the root of a lot of our issues.”