This is not so much found writing as raw theft. Someone is owed an apology from me. At tutoring last night, I was sitting at the PC while H~ worked on the next PC over, and Microsoft Word's File Open dialogue box was sitting up on the screen. So I just started flipping around through files. Most of them were very dull. No surprise there. Forms and feedback about the progress of the tutoring center. Nothing juicy. By why would there be anything juicy on a PC accessible by every single student?

But then I found this assignment that someone had typed up, and oh yes, I had to have it. I printed it out, and extracted it from H~'s stack of info for his report on Zimbabwe (Ugh. Zimbabwe. Leads to all sorts of awkward questions about Africa and South Africa. I found myself in the unenviable position of having to explain apartheid to him. "Okay, this bunch of white guys, outnumbered thousands to one, who ran all of South Africa and had all these amazingly restrictive rules against the black people. And… and… Okay, take a step back. Every really globally mean thing that has been done to black people like you was done by white people like me. Yes, we suck. In fact, you will find that just about every huge and appallingly cruel thing you will read about in your history books was done by white people. We suck and yet to this day we control the world. Nothing's fair, sorry).

[An aside: I'm typing this on the bus. How funny. The bus is a very public forum. The guy next to me is reading it, and I don't blame him. I would be doing the exact same thing were our positions reversed. Oops! His head snapped violently away on the word "guy". I feel bad about that. But at the same time, I felt a thrill of power knowing I was going to be calling him on it as I started this paragraph. Mixed motivations all the way. Still and all, if I'm typing on the bus, it is his right to read over my shoulder.]

Anyway, I flirted with trying to figure out who might have written the paper below. No name, no clear identifying marks. Given the kids we tutor, it's a solid guess that the author is between 10 and 14 years old. Best odds on the high end of that range given the cleverness of the approach.

"The meaning of racism in the dictionary is the notion that one race is better than another. The second definition of racism is prejudice against another race, that comes from this notion. My prejudices is I do not like racist people like the Klu Klux Klan. I think that the KKK believes that their race is the best race. They also believe in white power and do not like black power. I think that just because of your color or gender you should not be treated different. I do not like people who judge you because of looks and dress. Sometimes people cannot help the way they look. They should be mistreated for something they aren't able to control.

I express my prejudice by telling people how I feel about the KKK. Just because of my prejudice against the KKK doesn't mean I dislike all white people. I learned this prejudice from my friends, family, tv and religion. This prejudice affect me because I don't think I could ever be a racist persons friend. I think I could get along with a racist person as long as they didn't tell me that they were racist.

Another prejudice I have is against people that think they are better than everybody else because of the amount of money they have. I do not like these kind of people because they think they are too cool to hang around people that don't have as much money as them. They think money is the most important thing in live even before family and friends. They show off their cars and houses. They think if is easy to live a because they have everything they need. They have not experienced life without money and don't realize that it can be difficult. This prejudice is expressed by talking about them to my friends. I learned this prejudice by myself. I know how it feels when you do not have money because my family at one time did not have a lot of money."

I was musing on what a PC generation we are raising as I read the first half, but then I hit the last paragraph, and it made me worry. Am I moneyist? I hope not. I hang around everyone if they are interesting, regardless of what I see on their bank statements when I ransack their house while they're away. I have only a singular car and house, and there is just really no way to show off a Ford Taurus.

But on the other hand, I always have had everything I need. I do think life is easy to live, and have never experienced life without money. Maybe there was a time growing up when money was tight in my family, but I have no recollection of it, and certainly never wrote a paper about it. So if I ever strike any of you as moneyist, call me on it.

As for the essay overall, tell me that it is not just wizard clever? The kid could be a politician. Could be an orator. Should certainly join debate in high school and explore their clever conversational talents.

I don't know when in your development you learn clever dissimulations like this, but the whole "pretending to be the characteristics of the person you're attacking so that people have to deny that you are the bad thing, at the same time admitting that you are right" maneuver is a tool that you will use almost daily for the rest of your life.

"I know that I know nothing about Web site design, but I was wondering why we couldn't ditch this really clashing color?"

"Okay, yes, I'm a huge jerk, but those people are annoying even me."

"I am not your teacher, but what if just for fun you did this…"

Every single day they'll use it. And here they are at such a tender young age already with this amazingly handy skill. I do envy them.