Gonna Make You Think

Okay, here is the scenario. You are a white parent taking your white child to a party. You were asked to bring a gift for the children to get as they draw numbers for it. At the party, there are various children of different races and ethnic backgrounds, although the majority of the attendees are white.

Now comes the time for the children to draw numbers for the gifts. It's your child's turn, and he/she draws a number for a particular gift. He/she has the gift in his/her hads and opens it to reveal a doll, and the race of the doll is black. How would you react? Answer honestly, because that answer reveals your true motive on how you teach your child to treat people of different races.

This is a true story. A friend of mine was telling me what she witnessed at this party she took her daughter to. She told me the white parents of the child who drew the number for the black doll were livid with anger. My question is, "Why?" The same parents felt like a "doll like that" had no business at that party. My question is, "Why not?" There were black children there, too. Let's turn the knife 180 degrees: how are the black parents supposed to react when their child opens up a gift to reveal a white doll? What's the difference? If it's a toy the child doesn't want to play with for whatever reason, maybe he/she can swap with another child.

Here's my opinion on the matter. The white parents who got angry about the doll were waaaay out of line with their anger. Their reaction told me more about how they feel about people of other races than anything they'd tell me verbally. Why do they feel it's shameful or an insult to be a white child with a black doll? I was told the doll was rather cute; it wasn't ugly. Their reaction smacked of a racist attitude.

It doesn't end there, folks. My friend's daughter offered to swap with the "offended" child; she honestly thought the doll was cute. Well, the grandparents found out, and they were ... shall we say "moritifed." Why would our granddaughter choose a baby of another race? Something's wrong with that child. Again, that reaction told me more about their true attitudes about people of other races than anything they would admit to my face.

People, please! Skin color should not be a deciding factor as to why you associate with different people. You associate with people because you have similar interests, similar values, etc. We all want to avoid people who would lie to us, lie about us, steal from us, hurt us, etc. Those kind of people come in all sizes and colors. Guess what? Decent people come in all sizes and colors, too. But those who choose friends or associates based on skin color only limit themselves.

Getting back to the question "how would you react," Answer that question for yourself honestly. Just remember that your answer will effect other people, not just you. Also, remember that what goes around comes around.