One of my first memories involving race is from elementary school. I was in the fourth or fifth grade at the time. At my elementary school, students could play games in the gym while they waited for the parents to come pick them up after school. While I was in the gym waiting, I decided to play jump rope with two other girls. One of the girls was my friend who happens to be white and the other girl was a classmate of mine who is Hispanic. While we were deciding who should swing the rope first, one of the girls said something along the lines of, “Shawnna should do it since she’s black.”

I remember immediately taking offense to the comment. She was claiming that because I am black, I should do the work of turning the rope rather than playing the game too. This was especially surprising to hear at the time because I was so young and had little experience with racism firsthand. I ended up turning one end of the jump rope along with my friend while the other girl jumped. I have always been the kind of person that tries to keep the peace and usually offers to do the thing that no one else wants to do just to avoid conflict. This happens a lot even now when I do group work at school and such.

But when I got home that evening, I remember telling my mum about the comment the girl made. She told me that race has absolutely nothing to do with the game and that I should not feel obligated to do the unwanted tasks just because I am black. I took her words to heart and keep that in mind to this day. I learned that it is important for me to keep my eyes open and to be aware of racism. Back then I was rather blind to the concept, but now I make sure to remain conscious of race issues and try not to allow racist remarks or actions to go right over my head because ignorance is certainly not bliss.