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Staying in the common lines of this past weeks post I thought I would talk about some of what we have gone through and continue to go through. I commented on Robyn’s post about how I only let Enu wear her beloved Curious George shirt at home and wouldn’t let her wear the hand-me-down banana bathing suit. I did feel bad about these things in a way. I cannot help but think that I maybe overthinking things at times. (My Hubby has mentioned that I overthink things a bit.)
I just don’t want to expose my girls to any more racism than they are already facing. Letting my daughter wear her Curious George shirt out and about could cause somebody to say something to her about being a monkey. I know this would confuse her. I can remember when someone first called her black (the school bus of course). She said,”He kept saying your black, your black…like it was bad or something.” It broke my heart at that time and now I see how innocent they were when we brought them home to this big “white” world from Ethiopia.
Yesterday, Enu told me she wanted to put white make up on her face for her Halloween costume. She is going to be Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter Books) and wants to look just like her. This is such a basic request. My eldest is going to be Hermione Granger (we are Harry Potter obsessed if you haven’t guessed!) There is no way on earth I would send her out in white makeup, but how do you explain that to a child who just wants to dress up.
Thinking of Halloween made me remember hearing a black male who works in radio say one time that he was never allowed to go trick-or-treating. He said his parents were to afraid that something would happen in the neighborhood that he would be blamed for because of his skin color.
It is so unfair to limit our kids imaginations, opportunities for adventure or experiences just because of what people may or not think, say or do. Racism is crippling from all sides and because it is so ignorant and loveless there will never be an easy way to live our lives as a transracial family. But then who ever said life was going to be easy!
I would love to hear from other parents about some of these same things. Do you let your child wear Curious George?
Photo Credit Mandy W. 2009
