Eight-year old King Johnson has shot to viral internet fame after allegedly executing a blunt takedown of his elementary school teacher’s Columbus Day history lesson.
“Today was not a good learning day. Blah, blah, blah. I only wanted to hear you not talking. You said something wrong and I can’t listen when I hear lies,” King reportedly wrote in his journal, used to reflect on the day’s lesson which, in this case, covered Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas.
“My mom said that the only Christofer we acknowledge is Wallace,” King wrote in reference to the hip hop pioneer Notorious BIG. “Because Columbus didn’t find our country, the Indians did. I like to have Columbus Day off, but I want you to not teach me lies. That is all.”
King signed off with a rather pointed question: “How can white people teach black history?”
"I am very disappointed in your journal today," his teacher wrote at the bottom of the entry. to which King nonchalantly replies, "OK."
The source listed on many sites as the original uploader of the viral letter posted that she was not related to King but was just an admirer who saw the letter online and had to share it.
RT.com has contacted King’s mother to confirm the authenticity of the letter and for comment on King’s newfound internet fame.
Regardless, King’s hilarious verbal sparring has captured imaginations across the web, with many expressing an early desire for King to run for president of the US one day.
Others, however, took King’s mother to task for not teaching the boy about the respectful way to discuss Native American peoples who predated the Spanish conquests.
“I wish the teacher had answered the posed question rather than saying how disappointed they felt. This could have been a meaningful and teachable moment,” Sabrina Shaleece wrote on Facebook, lamenting a lost opportunity at opening a dialogue about the alleged whitewashing of North American history.
“I always use every moment as a teaching moment,” King's mother Robin told The Huffington Post. “His first day off of school for Columbus Day, I decided to talk to him and his siblings about it because he asked why they didn’t have to attend school.”
King reportedly wants to be a police officer when he grows up.
“It makes me feel a lot more confident in myself,” King said of the response to his letter. “Some things that I may not feel comfortable saying I can now say with more courage and to know that I will be supported. All the compliments gave me a lot more courage.”
King and his mother Robin set up an Instagram account following the widespread coverage of his letter.
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