postracial america my ass
Today in the daycare, I had a few kindergartners sent back to me. I usually do when my numbers are low, but today we had no school, so I had about three or four in the back for our activities. We were doing free play and I was on the other side of our giant, L-shaped classroom when I heard one of the little girls yelling at one of the little boys. "You're black!" she was saying- demanding rather, as if she was assigning roles in recess.
The boy said: "No I'm not, I'm brown!" (He is a non-black Latino.)
"No you're not!" the girl yelled, getting in his face, "Black, black, BLACK!" The little girl, of course, was white. The boy started crying. Sitting on the floor next to her was a little girl, who was black, playing with the blocks and pretending not to hear any of this, her expression showing that she was upset.
I have never hated a child so much as I did in that instant. I mean, logically, I know I don't really hate the child herself, I hate the shitty cultural upbringing and inherent racial privilege that lets her say such shit, but in that instant, I hated that little white girl in her pink skirt and her long blonde ponytails. I hated what she was doing, I hated her enforcing her views on race on that boy, I hated that she was using 'black' as an insult, I hated that the other little girl was subjected to having to hear her identity used as an insult. Just- one moment of total blinding rage. And then I calmed myself and went over and comforted the boy and other girl, and sent the instigator to the director's office for a serious talk.
Goddamn, I hate it when this shit shows up in fucking five year-olds.
Standard warning for comments here: no whitesplaining, no apologism, etc.
Also I have to wait until tomorrow to watch the State of the Union because my super conservative parents hog the TV and watching politics with them is horribly uncomfortable and downright rage-inducing because of their commentary.
The boy said: "No I'm not, I'm brown!" (He is a non-black Latino.)
"No you're not!" the girl yelled, getting in his face, "Black, black, BLACK!" The little girl, of course, was white. The boy started crying. Sitting on the floor next to her was a little girl, who was black, playing with the blocks and pretending not to hear any of this, her expression showing that she was upset.
I have never hated a child so much as I did in that instant. I mean, logically, I know I don't really hate the child herself, I hate the shitty cultural upbringing and inherent racial privilege that lets her say such shit, but in that instant, I hated that little white girl in her pink skirt and her long blonde ponytails. I hated what she was doing, I hated her enforcing her views on race on that boy, I hated that she was using 'black' as an insult, I hated that the other little girl was subjected to having to hear her identity used as an insult. Just- one moment of total blinding rage. And then I calmed myself and went over and comforted the boy and other girl, and sent the instigator to the director's office for a serious talk.
Goddamn, I hate it when this shit shows up in fucking five year-olds.
Standard warning for comments here: no whitesplaining, no apologism, etc.
Also I have to wait until tomorrow to watch the State of the Union because my super conservative parents hog the TV and watching politics with them is horribly uncomfortable and downright rage-inducing because of their commentary.