This teen’s poem is going massively viral for an amazing reason

It’s not often a poem of all things goes viral, but then again, it’s also not often that a 14-year-old boy writes a poem called “White Boy Privilege.” The poem,  written by rising 9th grader Royce Mann, was performed at a school competition, and after Mann’s mother posted the performance on YouTube, the video racked up over 650,000 views.

“Dear everyone who isn’t a middle or upper-class white boy, I’m sorry,” Mann says in his poem. “I have started life at the top of the ladder, while you were born on the first rung. I say now that I would trade places with you in an instant, but would I? Probably not because, to be honest, being privileged is awesome. I’m not saying that you and me on different rungs of the ladder is how I want it to stay, I’m not saying that any part of me for a moment even liked it that way, I’m just saying that I fucking love being privileged and I’m not ready to give that away.”

Mann proceeds to explain in his poem that “to be honest, I’m scared of what it would be like if I wasn’t on the top rung, if the tables were turned and I didn’t have my white boy privilege safety blankie to protect me.”

“When I was born I already had a success story written for me, you were given a pen and no paper,” Mann admits. “I’ve always felt that’s unfair but I’ve never dared to speak up because I’ve been too scared. Well now I realize there’s enough blankie to be shared.”

Mann concludes “It’s time to take that ladder and turn it into a bridge.”

It’s not every day you see someone readily admit their privilege, particularly someone so young (and male, and white), and it’s Mann’s brutal honesty that has propelled him to virality. Mann was inspired to write his poems after the lessons he learned in the “Race, Class, and Privilege” course he took at his school, and Mann firmly believes that education is key to changing the status quo.

“I want people to realize that change really starts in our education system with the youth, with people my age,” Mann told PEOPLE, “and there are a lot of people my age out there who are thinking the same way I am. People just need to realize that they need to listen to the youth. We have a lot of important things to say too.
And also, I want people to realize that all they have to do is do their part to try to create change.”

Hear, hear. Check out the full video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=