Four or five years ago, a new television show made it's debut on the incomparable WB network. It's title was "Everybody Hates Chris", and it was loosely based on the childhood experiences of comedian, Chris Rock.
Andrew and I have an affinity for anything that is slightly controversial or inappropriate, so we enjoyed watching the first few episodes of that show.
At the time we were living in an apartment in a rather unsavory area of Vancouver with our two young sons. The apartment complex had a playground conveniently located right outside our front door, but because I preferred my children alive and not addicted to drugs, they weren't allowed to visit the playground without me or Andrew.
One night I was making dinner in the kitchen, and Cameron was standing out on the porch deck envying the kids who were laughing and giggling and having lots of unsupervised fun. While tossing a handful of spaghetti into a boiling vat, I heard Cameron yell to someone on the playground...
"Hey, Kid! Is your name Chris? Because I saw a brown kid on TV, and his name was Chris!"
I was mortified.
Yes, Cameron, all "brown" kids are named Chris.
I called Cameron inside so that he couldn't embarrass me further, and when I went to correct his rudeness, I found myself speechless. He hadn't actually said anything wrong... I thought about telling him that the kid he was trying to befriend was not "brown", he was "black", and that he ought to get it straight so as not to offend anyone. But the kid wasn't exactly black, was he? No one is. He did, in fact, look brown to me, too. So how do you explain that one to a four year old?
I decided to leave it alone and let time and experience teach him the specifics of race.
But I think time and experience will most profoundly teach Cameron that he is "white", and that that fact is more apparent in his lack of rhythm than in his skin tone. It's all so confusing, isn't it?
I remember that! :)
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how my boys will percieve their Hawaiian relatives who are very obviously not white. They, however, are extremely white despite the 1/4 Hawaiian blood that runs through their veins and the impossible last name.
If anything, I think this will only serve to confuse them.
I guess time will tell! ;)
Ah, that reminds me that just last year, Cameron insisted that his cousin, Jayden, was black. The kid gets tan, but not that tan. Your family must put him in a mental pickle! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! My brothers have done something similar to that! I'm sure my mother was mortified too. I know i would be!
ReplyDeleteOne of my very good friends is black.. and i was convinced that he was brown.. not black. I asked him about it, and his mother freaked out on me. Apparently I had no right to ask him what he was..considering his dad is white and his mother is black..I mean naturally if someone is black and another is white..mixing them together it makes them brown.. right? Its a very very confusing! :)