Imagine a city park on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. In this park you can see children playing ranging from toddlers to pre-teens. There are kids on jungle gyms, slides, and swings. There are even two children in a sandbox harmlessly building sand castles.Then you are interrupted by something, or someone, far less peaceful. A frustrated parent enters the sandbox, visibly bothered. You hear her vocalizing her frustrations. “I have told you before that you cannot play with them because THEY are TOO DIRTY to play with.” And just like that, the sandbox for two is now left with one. The parent, with her frustrations, pulls away her child and they disappear into the ever passing evening. You view the sandbox and see the “dirty” child left behind, having nothing more than confusion and disappointment on his young face.
This is my earliest account of prejudice and intolerance. I was 3 years old. Weeks later, I remember thinking about the situation in a grocery store when I was vigorously looking for some chocolate for my mom to buy me. In the middle of my search for treasure, I turned to my sister and stated, “Sometimes, I wish I was white.” She proceeded to snitch and tell my mother what I said. My mom then came to me, kneeled to one knee in the middle of the aisle, and said, “Don’t you ever say or think that ever again. There is nothing wrong with who you are.” From that point forward, there has never been a time in my life that I haven't cherished being biracial.
I believe many people would agree that no 3 year old anywhere in the world should ever be preoccupied with the color of their skin. However, I was not an outlier. Children are smart. They observe, learn, and adapt. Kids will notice the slightest of differences between people and the diversity of race is no exception. So, why do we directly and indirectly, consciously and subconsciously, continue to allow and perpetuate the stereotypes that come with these variations in melanin levels and distinct genetic differences? Why do we acknowledge the existence of the social construct known as race yet we are afraid to have an open conversation about racism? Many people have conveyed their answers without ever being asked these questions. Raise your hand if you have heard these before:
“I am color blind.”
or
“The only race is the human race.”
While these statements do hold some merit, intention does not change impact. I reiterate that race is a social construct that has been created and sustained by humans. However, we live in a hypersensitive society where racial tensions are possibly higher than ever. The color of someone’s skin could very much dictate every aspect of their individual life. This includes white, black, and everything in between. This alone, in my opinion, makes claims of “colorblindness” completely irresponsible. I am not advocating that we should interact based solely upon race but that we should merely take it into consideration. If we ever want to make progress with dismantling the concept of race we must acknowledge it, accept it, and become comfortable with it. For example, never again have I seen the child that was pulled from the sandbox we shared, however I imagine that our upbringings were completely in contrast. I cannot speak for him but it is quite possible his experience on that day may have caused him to feel increasingly uncomfortable around people of color because of the statement his mother lamented to him. However, my experience on that day led me to not only accept my biracial status but to happily embrace it.
I am black. I am white. I am mixed. I am human. Some people cherish that. Some people despise it. Some people could not care less and this is where we have our issue. Indifference is the opposition of love, not hatred. This is because both love and hate are emotions which require one to want something from someone; indifference is feeling absolutely nothing for someone or something. So, when we become indifferent to a person we will no longer allow ourselves to assist them. Think of indifference as the equivalent of zero in an equation. Multiply any number by zero and the answer will be zero. Multiply love by indifference and you have nothing. We can achieve zero progress with indifference. We, as a society, must utilize love in order to achieve a progress that transcends that of race and racism. When we promote love we naturally promote acceptance. For example, when my mother kneeled to my level in the middle of that grocery store she committed an act of love which helped me accept myself for who I was. If my mother had utilized indifference and done nothing for me then I possibly would be condemning my biracial background. If we want to move past the acknowledgment of superficial differences then we must be willing to use love to spread consciousness and defeat apathetic indifference.
Ignoring the issues of race will not make them go away. Together, we must engage in conversations that may push us out of our comfort zones. We should pose tough questions about cultural diversity and we should all be willing to contribute to the answers. We need to tell our children that there will be people that are different from them but that it does not make them better or worse than they are. We must convey that it is okay to be different and that it is okay to acknowledge those differences. This may be difficult to achieve but it does spread love and acceptance which eventually translates to progress. Indifference stifles progress because it is the opposition of love and with indifference we can never achieve transcendence.
I am black. I am white. I am mixed. I am human. This is where my conversation begins. Where does yours start?
