Enough is Enough

My son's friend joined us for lunch today. As he sat in my kitchen eating my food, he explained that he didn't like "white people". He almost fell over when I told him my father was a blue-eyed blond with white skin. I have "white people" in me I explained to him. My son and I have done much for this young man and have not once been unkind to him.

I have been hated often because of my appearance. As a little girl, a boy peed on me and pushed me down the stairs because he thought my mother and I were Vietnamese. My mother looks Vietnamese and back in the early 1970s, this was not a good thing.

When Isaiah was about five, the boys and I passed through the town of George West. This was my first experience with racism that caused me to feel deeply afraid. We stopped at a DQ there and it was obvious that the people inside had issues with my beautiful brown baby.

At the school where I work, an Ethiopian couple stopped me in the parking lot telling me that Isaiah could not be my child. They told me he looked Ethiopian and was like them. An eight-year-old Isaiah stood next to me afraid as I tried to free us from their cruel words.

After Alex and Isaiah's father passed, his family announced that Alex could have never been their relative because of his skin color. They later tried to cover their racism by making things up about me personally but revealed their heart by saying Isaiah who is "mixed" could not have been his either. My current husband's family has made similar comments wondering why people can't just marry within their race. Again, saying things about me that are not true to hide their racism. 

I have two children. One is "white" and the other "black" and I see no difference in them whatsoever. I said as much to the young man whose painful experiences with someone white has birthed hatred in him. I hope our conversation over lunch changes his heart.

I could use the same excuse because some black people have been evil towards me. But what would I do about the countless other black people who have been my friends, who have extended kindness towards me? 

All of us have a story to tell about someone judging us because of our appearance.  All of us have experienced either racism, sexism, prejudice, or cruelty in one form or fashion. Enough is enough. Must an entire race pay for the mistakes of some wounded or wicked people?