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My 3 y/o Taught Me A Lesson in Racism
It is all black and white, we add in shades of grey
“Papa, aunty is Black.”
My son announced when my wife and I got home from work one evening.
This was quite a deviation from the usual welcome of “what did you get for me?” and left us rather puzzled.
Our full-time helper (the aunty being referred to) then clarified the comment.
“We were learning colors for all objects, following which I asked him what color was his skin — and he said he was white. Soon after, he went on to observe I am black.”
None of that was true in the actual sense of color in the sense of race. We’re Indian and our son is a very light-skinned Indian, but he’s technically “brown” in racial terms. Our helper is Sri Lankan with a dark complexion.
But to our helper, with her rather bad English skills, and her limited knowledge of societal norms around race, and to our 3-year-old son who is exploring colors, these were facts.
Our son meant no offense, and none was taken. It was an innocent dialogue, which to me and my wife sounded odd when it was presented as a standalone “Aunty is black.”
