I was in grade 7 and my science teacher was overly critical of me. Bordering on disrespectful and she was clearly prejudiced against light-skinned African-Americans. The whole class drew projects. I was so excited to do my project because I loved doing projects with my grandmother. My project was the solar system. So my grandmother pulled out all the stops! We went and bought all the materials I needed. I have to say that my model replica of the solar system was amazing. We worked on this for weeks. Finally it was my turn to present, I did a brilliant job. But I received a low C. I was so upset. The comments said that my line was too good and that it was clearly not the work of a 7th grader. Some students drew pictures, stuck figures on paper and got an A. That night, I cried my eyes out. My grandmother told me that people don't like you because you have light skin. She told me that some people would treat me like gold and others would spit on me like dirt. From that day on I quit my job to speak