Out of Many One People and Five Shades of Tan

Growing up in Jamaica, I was pretty much color blind when it came to the color of one's skin. Yes, it was obvious that not all people looked the same, but as far as color was...people were just people to me.

That all changed when I moved to the United States.


Moving to the states was a huge culture shock for me and in high school, I was instantly made aware that color is your identity. I was bombarded with questions like: What are you? Where are you from? It seemed no question was off limits. People had to know what I was, so I could be put in a "category," and placed with all the "others" just like me.

These thoughts all came rushing back to me because last night, as Buddy Roller was reading to me, we had an interesting conversation. The book he was reading had two bunnies. One white. The other brown.

"Why are they different colors?" he asked.

"Well...bunnies are just like people. They come in different colors," I said.

"Oh yes. Yes. There are five colors of people," he further explained.

"Oh yeah. And what colors might those be?" I asked.

"There's tan, dark tan, black, white, and dark black," he said matter-of-factly.

Then I asked him a series of questions. What color are you? Who's white? Dark tan? Dark black?

His answers were hilarious.

He even added another shade....peach!

And that's when I lost it. I started laughing, and then he started laughing too...snorting and all! He's so innocent and mostly unaffected by this world.

I know he's learning a lot in school, and I know he's influenced by what other kids are talking about.

I finally asked him, "Does it matter what color people are? People are just people, right?"

To which he answered an affirmative, "Yes."

I know we'll have to have that talk some day.
But a big part of me just wants him to see people as people. With no prejudices or biases.

I wonder how long I can keep it this way?