Just an attribute of skin
It really happened. I was watching the inauguration from on the TVs that had been provided for employees to watch the event live. Standing around me were a dozen or so other employees. As the Rev. Rick Warren mentioned the words “first African American president” in his prayer, a cry escaped from someone. Looking around, I could see a few people - both black and white - dabbing tears from their eyes. The air was emotionally charged. Someone tried to lighten the mood by making wise cracks. He went into the cafeteria and returned with a stack of napkins. We laughed.
As Barack Obama was sworn in as the President of the United States of America, there was complete silence, followed by clapping and cheering. “It’s really happening”, I thought to myself as I reflected on how lucky I am to be alive at this time in history. I am not an American but I felt so proud of this country where I have come to live. And more importantly, I felt privileged to be raising my kids in this new era where the color of their skin is not perceived as a barrier to achievement. If I was at home, the ocassion would have called for a few tears of joy. But here, I was concious of maintaining my professional demeanor. So when the speech was done, I returned to my work and the rest of my day continued as normal.
After work, I pick up my kids and I tell my 5 year old Darling Angel, “There’s a new President”. “I know”, she replied.
Two days ago she didn’t know. I had asked her if she knew who Obama was but she didn’t know. I tried to explain but she was more interested in her current pursuit, reading Rapunzel. She was more interested in telling me about the magic witch who took Rapunzel and how that wasn’t a nice thing to do.
Today, Obama had been a topic of discussion in class. “He is the new President”, she told me. “But I can’t remember the name of the other one.”
“Which one”, I inquired.
“The one who has white skin” she responded.
“You must mean Bush”, I told her as I explained that he was the old president. I was curious if she knew what color Obama is but I did not want to lead her to the answer. So I asked, “Is Obama white too?”
“No”, she responded. “Obama’s skin is brown.”
Then it struck me. To her, people are not white or black (brown is the word she uses). It is their skin that is white or black. Color is simply an attribute of the skin and that’s the simple truth. Black (or brown if you want the simple truth) is the color of Obama’s skin. The truth escapes grownups, but it’s plain to see for my 5 year old.
Children perceive the simple truth. They see what is until society conditions them, like it has conditioned us (the grownups) to see what is not. As Obama takes the rein of presidency, breaking down another barrier, a big one, in the history of ‘black’ people, I hope that my daughter’s simple truth becomes the reality we all share - that color is just an attribute of our skin.
