You are so smart... You are so smart (2007) is a video that works with the depiction of the adjective, articulate, used as a word that has different meanings depending on the colour of your skin. The word, articulate, can function as a code for racism of low expectations. When people use this word, what they are really saying is that someone is articulate...for a black person. The video, “you are so smart,” is a narrative dialogue of three black women, repeating the words “you are so smart.” The meaning of the phrase becomes more complex as they repeat it. The work is edited using skin colour, dialect, facial expressions, and body language as signifiers for class and education. Perhaps the phrase “you are so smart” has a different meaning to each of the women depending on their cultural experiences and expectations.
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