Lessons of Color

On Friday, Madi's preschool teacher spent some time teaching the children about Dr. Martin Luther King and Monday's holiday to honor him. It was evident through Madi's detail about the event that took his life and all the prejudices that existed during that time. She told us various accounts of prejudice and how the black people had to sit in the back of the bus.

She followed that up by asking, "I'm black, right?"

Jimmy and I chuckled for a quick second and asked why she would think that. She indicated that it was the color of her skin. We explained to her that she is Chinese and took the opportunity to expose how silly the labels of color really are.

I asked her if we really look white. Don't Mommy and Daddy, in fact, look more pink than white? We explained that Chinese people are sometimes labeled "Yellow" and asked her if she thinks she's yellow. Clearly, she's a beautiful shade of mocha--not yellow. And what about the "Red" Indians? They don't look red to us. They are usually pretty brown too! And finally, back to what started our discussion in the first place--the "Black" people. They too, do not look "Black" but rather a darker, richer shade of brown.

It was an interesting dinner conversation that taught our daughter an important lesson. The bottom line that Madi grasped is that skin color doesn't matter or shouldn't anyway. Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King.