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YOUNG, GIFTED BUT BLACK

What is common about these names? 
 Abraham Lincoln           Martin Luther King
   Nelson Mandela               Mahatma Gandhi
Look up a dictionary for the meaning of APARTHEID 
Now read this poem. 
YOUNG, GIFTED BUT BLACK

When Mebula Ramsandra
Was three years old
His mother told him, that if he wanted
To be a big strong man
He'd have to drink all his milk - 
And he did. 

When Mebula Ramsandra
Was five years old
His teacher told him 
That of he wanted 
To go to a grammar school 
He'd have to try harder with his homework-
And he did. 
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was fifteen years old
His lecturer told him
That if he wanted to be lab technician 
He would have to go to University - 
And he did. 

So ten years later
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was twenty-five years old, 
A big, strong, clever, educated postgraduate - 
The man on the other end of the telephone said, 
If he wanted to work for him. 
He'd have to be big, strong, clever, postgraduate and white. 

For solved exercises of this poem, click on the link below:

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