Race-related ponderings
I went to a Black History Month program today. It was a choir and a theater program from a middle school and a women's gospel group that my mother knows one of the members of. The theater kids did little reenactment skits of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and Rosa Parks. I cried when the little Obama came out and took the oath of office. The little boy delivering the oath even tripped up on the word execute, and it was so adorable.
I had an odd thought. One of things I've been taught as long as I can remember is that because I'm black, I have to work harder and behave better to get the same treatment as the other kids. That sometimes there will be other kids who hate me before they meet me and I can't let that bother me. That some people will assume that I'm loud and rude and have an attitude problem as soon as they see me.
Now, I'm not a big fan of the idea of bearing children, like, ever. I don't think I have much to offer as a parent. But I figured if I found a guy and just couldn't deny his offspring existence, I might be open to having a few. And I always wondered what I'd say to my kids about racism. And when is the right time to tell them that being bigger, stronger, and faster is the only way to get the same treatment?
But what if I never had to tell my kids that?
I had an odd thought. One of things I've been taught as long as I can remember is that because I'm black, I have to work harder and behave better to get the same treatment as the other kids. That sometimes there will be other kids who hate me before they meet me and I can't let that bother me. That some people will assume that I'm loud and rude and have an attitude problem as soon as they see me.
Now, I'm not a big fan of the idea of bearing children, like, ever. I don't think I have much to offer as a parent. But I figured if I found a guy and just couldn't deny his offspring existence, I might be open to having a few. And I always wondered what I'd say to my kids about racism. And when is the right time to tell them that being bigger, stronger, and faster is the only way to get the same treatment?
But what if I never had to tell my kids that?