We’re back with another standalone episode, this one written and directed by Donald Glover. Kevin Samuels, the controversial YouTube personality who recently passed away, makes a guest appearance as Robert S. Lee.
This episode, shot in monochrome, focuses on a white-presenting bi-racial high school senior named Aaron who really wants to go to the same college as his white girlfriend, Kate, and their friends but can’t get in because he can’t afford it and his dad refuses to take out loans. Aaron clearly has identity issues – going as far as to call the Black dudes he online games with “n-gger”.
Aaron (whose dad is Black) grapples with the reality of his financial situation but sees there may be light at the end of the tunnel when Robert S. Lee (not to be confused with “Robert E. Lee”) shows up at his school (named Stonewall Jackson High) and offers to give all the Black students a scholarship. All Aaron has to do is prove he's Black enough and all of his problems will be solved, right!?
Anyway, the kid heads to the auditorium where he auditions for the scholarship, in which he’s required to prove his Blackness through a series of questions like: Name six things you can mix with Hennessy, and questions about classic Black TV shows like 227 and Amen. In the end, he’s rejected because he’s not Black enough. He heads home and is further deflated when his girlfriend breaks up with him because he won’t be going to college, and also has been flirting with a Black dude.