Adult Chris: [v.o.] The hardest part about being a Black nerd was that I didn't fit in with anybody. Not to mention, before the Internet, there were only two Black nerds: me and this guy. [a photo of Barack Obama appears on screen]

Julius: Drew, what are you doing?
Drew: Looking for a job. Since I'm 13, I figured I'd start working and make some real money.
Rochelle: Well, you just remember, for now, school is your first job.
Julius: There's nothing wrong with looking for your second job.

Tonya: Daddy, I wanted to ask you something.
Julius: Yes, baby?
Tonya: Can I get a job?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] This may have been the happiest moment of my father's life.
[Julius dances down the steps, into the street and jumps up on the roof of a car]
Julius: My baby wants a job!
Man: Get off of my car, fool!

Ms. Morello: Oh, my God! Chris!
Adult Chris: [v.o.] It'd be 20 years before another woman had that reaction.
Chris: Miss Morello, you're the principal? How'd you end up here?
Ms. Morello: You wouldn't believe it.
[flashback:]
Old Principal: I hate this school! I hate these kids! And every last one of you can kiss my white...
[present:]
Ms. Morello: As luck would have it, I ended up doing the same thing over at Corleone.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Only topless.
Ms. Morello: So I took the job here.

Chris: What you doing down here?
Greg: We had a half day today. I figured I'd try and catch up with you.
Chris: Is that coat the attire for the Bronx Academy?
Greg: Man, you wouldn't believe it. I found the one place on Earth where I'm not a nerd.
Chris: Where, in that coat?
Greg: The Bronx Academy. I'm the only one coming from a public school. I'm, like, the toughest kid there. Everyone's scared of me.
Chris: Scared of you or scared of that coat?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] This was the first time Greg scared anyone outside of a spelling bee.

Rochelle: I don't want Tonya working. She's still a little girl.
Julius: This will be good for her. She'll be learning responsibility and plus, she'll be making a little money.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] What he really meant was...
[fantasy:]
Julius: She'll be making money. She'll be making money. She'll be making money and she'll be making money!

Chris: Is Dickerson the only Black player on the team?
Thurman: Oh, for God's sake! Now you want to get on the team, too? What do you want to be? A jockstrap? I guess you're just going to Black your way through life. Is that right? It didn't work for Jesse Jackson, and it's not going to work for you.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Actually, it worked for both of us.
Thurman: Let me tell you something. If you're going to be around me, you need to understand something. I don't like people.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] You forgot to say "Black."
Thurman: Because people are idiots. They don't read, they don't think, and they're lazy. If they can find an easier way to do something, they'll take it every time. White people didn't have slaves because they're racist.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Yes, they did.
Thurman: They did it because they're lazy.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Lazy racists!
Thurman: If they had gotten off their butts and picked their own damn cotton, they wouldn't have had to shoot Dr. King. He's dead because White people are lazy! And what do we do to honor him? We take a damn day off work. I'm sick of it! You want to get along with me, don't be lazy.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Or Black.
Thurman: 4:00. Be there. Every day. And don't be late. You understand? And you're not getting on this team.
Chris: Thanks for the job, Coach!

Adult Chris: [v.o.] While I talked my way into a job, Tonya talked her way out of one.
Vanessa: You gotta fire Tonya.
Rochelle: Vanessa, let me talk to her first.
Vanessa: Rochelle, I don't have time for that. I'm losing more customers than a Muslim rib shack.
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Ah salaam a lick 'em!
Vanessa: She broke up two marriages, she outed Jerome's uncle, and she told Gloria about her mole.
Rochelle: She told Gloria about her mole?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] Oh, Lord! Not the mole!
Vanessa: Everybody knows how sensitive Gloria is about that mole.
Rochelle: She ain't say nothing about her mustache, did she?
Vanessa: She didn't have to.
Rochelle: Oh! Oh, Vanessa.
Vanessa: Rochelle, either you fire her or I'm going to have to fire you.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] Coming into Tattaglia, I thought I would stand out because I was the only Black kid. But all I was was just another teenager. If I wanted people to notice me, I was actually going to have to do something worth noticing. [Chris trips] Not quite what I had in mind.
Chris: Caruso? What are you doing here?
Joey Caruso: I'm knocking you on the floor, Bumpy. What's it look like? There's so many Blacks here now, I almost didn't recognize you.
Chris: Well, feel free to punch one of them.
Joey Caruso: That's okay. But thanks for the offer. Welcome to Tattaglia.

Adult Chris: [v.o.] High school changes everybody's life. After three years at Corleone, I went to Tattaglia High. Now, I didn't know what to expect when I got out, but I knew what to expect when I went in.
White Boy: Get him!
Adult Chris: [v.o.] White kids. And these weren't your everyday White kids. They were bigger. They were faster.
Chris: What the?
Adult Chris: [v.o.] They were stronger. [a girl bumps into Chris] And they were sexier. They had sexier backs. They had sexier fronts. Thank you, Lord.