This article is in my book, Through The Eyes of A Foster Child: A Poetic Journey. I honestly believe that children do not see individuals as different colors until it is pointed out to them.

If we love today, why should we hate tomorrow. Our hearts should not harbor this much sorrow.

My first encounter with racism was when I was about nine and in the Cub Scouts, which was one of the worst experiences of my life. During the 70’s, racism was at a national high. I attended a predominately white school and also had to catch a school bus for Cub Scout meetings. I remember a particular bus ride like it happened yesterday. I got on a completely filled bus, no empty seats. I tried to sit down, but the white kids would not move over. Finally, an Asian boy offered me a seat beside him. After exchanging a few words, I found that we were going to the same place. Somewhere behind us were some older boys. I could hear them laughing and talking about me. I heard one of them say to the other, “I dare you.” I had no idea as to what was about to happen. Suddenly, one of the boys took my Cub Scout cap off. He then leaned over the seat and pretended to spit on my head. Their laughter pierced my ears and filled me with shame. And each week I relived the humiliation of that day.

I don’t blame that experience on innocent children. I stress the word INNOCENT, because I believe we are all born with a clean heart, a clean soul. As young children, we do not teach ourselves to hate other human beings, other cultures or other religions. Hateful ideas are taught to us either by the choices of others or inadvertently when others say or do something without realizing the consequences. I’m sure that many of us have said a “bad word” or made a statement about someone or something in the presence of a child and not realized the consequences of the word or statement until it was repeated back to us.

In today’s society, the words “nigger, nigga, or niggaz” are being used as if they were part of a new language, words to be proud of. Individuals get a kick, a high or self-gratification by using them. Our forefathers have endured a lot, bled and died because of the color of their skin. African-Americans have often expressed that the “white man” owes me this and owes me that. But they insist on degrading themselves, their fellow brothers and sisters and have the audacity to call me a “sell out” when I don’t see things the way they do. Then when someone of another ethnic group refers to them as a “nigger” they in turn want to come to blows. “But it’s different when a black man calls me nigger or nigga. It’s all in context.” Oh really, the last time I checked the dictionary the definition has not changed. As a man of color, facing racism every day of my life, I know what it’s like to have someone spit in your face, call you “nigger” and refer to you as “boy” in a derogatory manner. I’m not implying that the word be stricken from the English language; just not to give it more power than it already has.

If a person cannot respect who they are, how do they expect someone else to respect them? How do they expect OUR CHILDREN to respect themselves or to respect others? When OUR CHILDREN start using such words, our first instinct is to scold them and ask where they heard such words. But what we SHOULD do is look in the mirror. We tend to forget that children are impressionable; they say what they hear and do what they see. They are a mirror image of the adults that surround them. Our words are like a bed of feathers blowing in the wind; once they are loose, we can’t get them back.

I truly feel that it starts at home, with parents, in our schools, with teachers, and in churches/synagogues, with clergy. What we teach OUR CHILDREN today has a profound effect on the future, for they are the adults of tomorrow.

If we love today, why should we hate tomorrow?

Our hearts should not harbor this much sorrow.
 

© Dahveed 2007

All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized Reproduction and Distribution Strictly Prohibited.