"Recognize how racist systems crush academic ambition early Malcolm X was class president with dreams of becoming a lawyer, excelling academically in a white school while in a juvenile detention center. When he told his English teacher his goal, the teacher responded that America would accept him more as a carpenter — effectively telling a brilliant young Black man to lower his aspirations based on race. This single moment caused Malcolm to quit school entirely and never return, redirecting all his charisma and intelligence toward a life of crime. Knowing how institutional racism can disguise itself as 'realism' helps people identify and reject advice that is really about limiting others rather than guiding them. Source: Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, Stuff You Missed in History Class, Malcolm X"