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Struggles of minority students in Montgomery: ‘I, Too, Am B-CC’

The words were piercing. Makdes Hailu had just won a coveted spot on an academic team at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School when she inadvertently overheard a classmate’s put-down: “Oh, she only got in because she’s black.”

“At that moment, I just remember feeling so hurt,” Makdes said. “For the rest of the year and throughout the team, I just felt like everyone was looking at me like, oh, I was that black girl who made the team because she was black and not because of merit.”

So begins “I, Too, Am B-CC,” a six-minute YouTube video that reveals the pain and struggle of black and Hispanic students at a high-performing suburban high school in Montgomery County, Maryland’s largest school system.