your post makes me think of something that happened in my own life several years back. My son Ethan is now 12 years old. He is biracial and in my family for quite sometime he was the only one with the additional pigment. I have ALWAYS been the kind of person who ignores skin color at almost all cost just as i do with obvious disabilities and syndromes. Honestly it's not really that I ignore it, it just isn't relevant to me. People are people ... that's just how I have always called it.
Ethan's father walked out on us when I was 7 months preg and for the most part did not play an active role in his life. One day Ethan came home from school while he was in the 2nd grade and said "mama, some kid said I was black" Well that hit me like a ton of bricks ... EVERYONE who meant anything to E up till that point was White. There was no one in our immediate circle of friends or in our family who had much color and well bless his heart he never even noticed his own. Since that day I have given E's skin color much thought. While it does not make up who he is it does in some way serve to connect him to different people group, a culture of which I am not a part of. I can say all these years later God has been so faithful to provide good, strong, Godly black male role models for E. Men who are NOT afraid to praise God and give Him all the glory He deserves. Good for you for figuring it out much earlier than I. Will be praying for Seth and you as you seek to give him all he needs to grow into a strong Godly man!
May 13, 2010 9:01 PM
When I was 20 and 21, during college, I nannied for an African-American family in California during my summers. I worked for a great couple and their two wonderful kiddos. The first year I was there, Niki was 8 and Deric was 5. What fun we had!!
I remember one family outing -- riding a train North from the Bay area to a museum or a park or something along those lines. While I don't recall the purpose of our trip, I will always remember what five-year-old Deric said. We were sitting in the train station, watching people mill around, when Deric declared, "There are no black people here". Hmm, I thought as I quickly looked around. He has a point. We were in a pretty lilly white area. I told Deric that I agreed that in this area, there weren't many people with brown skin like him. Observant little buggar!
I've thought about that story a lot lately. In a few short hours, I leave for Uganda. I've wondered on this blog about living and working in Africa. That would make white skin the minority and Seth's beautiful brown skin the norm. But whether we move to Africa or not, Deric taught me an important lesson twenty years ago: in general, we are most comfortable relating to people who are like us. It's just the way it is. And like it or not, skin color still matters in this country. As Seth's mama, I need to keep this issue forefront in my mind, always working to keep Seth in places where he sees people like him and doesn't always have to feel different. Until we reach heaven, where all of this will seem so trivial. :-)`"for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, [black nor white] for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:27-29
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Close this window Jump to comment formyour post makes me think of something that happened in my own life several years back. My son Ethan is now 12 years old. He is biracial and in my family for quite sometime he was the only one with the additional pigment. I have ALWAYS been the kind of person who ignores skin color at almost all cost just as i do with obvious disabilities and syndromes. Honestly it's not really that I ignore it, it just isn't relevant to me. People are people ... that's just how I have always called it.
Ethan's father walked out on us when I was 7 months preg and for the most part did not play an active role in his life. One day Ethan came home from school while he was in the 2nd grade and said "mama, some kid said I was black" Well that hit me like a ton of bricks ... EVERYONE who meant anything to E up till that point was White. There was no one in our immediate circle of friends or in our family who had much color and well bless his heart he never even noticed his own. Since that day I have given E's skin color much thought. While it does not make up who he is it does in some way serve to connect him to different people group, a culture of which I am not a part of. I can say all these years later God has been so faithful to provide good, strong, Godly black male role models for E. Men who are NOT afraid to praise God and give Him all the glory He deserves. Good for you for figuring it out much earlier than I. Will be praying for Seth and you as you seek to give him all he needs to grow into a strong Godly man!
May 13, 2010 9:01 PM