Recently I was washing Eddie Haskell's hair in the shower, scrubbing away while he chatted about this and that. He looked down at himself, turned his palms up, then down as if inspecting his skin for a bug bite. Then he said, "Mama, there is someone in my class with brown skin and brown hair." I said "Yes, just like Mama's friend Miss Y and her family, remember them?" One of my best friends who lived just down the street had two sets of twins but sadly for me, and the kids since they had nearby playmates, they moved two years ago to another state. "Also, our President, Barack Obama has brown skin too" I said. "Rock Obama!" he replied. Eddie was quiet for a minute, soaping himself, then he piped up with, "And just like Diva has brown hair and I have blond hair." "Yes" I said, "just like that, people have all different colors of hair and skin." Then he was done and onto his next topic.
I wish it was just like that, for his whole life. Now, in preschool, my children are unaware of prejudice and racism, kids are kids to them. Another mom and I were talking about the way our kids describe other people. They never, ever identify them by race, but rather a clear description of their hair color, eye color, skin color, activities and other factors. It's such a beautiful time of innocence and it is sad to me that at some point they will begin using the common words we use to categorize different ethnicities rather than their much more accurate current descriptions.
UberGeek and I grew up in Northern Virginia, near Washington, DC, for much of our lives. There is such a richness of different cultures, ethnicities and religions and diversity is easy to come by. Now, transplanted to another locale, I often miss how easy it was to find and make friends with people from other cultures, in our Virginia home they were my co-workers, neighbors and members of social groups I belonged to. During a recent trip home to Northern Virginia I was driving to the grocery store when a man in a canary yellow turban drove by me. I immediately called my friend, who is also from the DC area, but now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach. "I just saw a man drive by in a bright yellow turban" I said "I've really missed being at home." She laughed and said, "I know what you mean."
There is diversity in my community here, but I find I have to seek it out. I love to learn about other people's cultures, try out their foods and ask their opinions on different things. Sometimes the best mirror of yourself and your society is a reflection in eyes that see things not as you do.
