I never realized that one of our sons that is bi-racial did not know he was black. It was around Martin Luther King Day at school he was in Kindergarten and he got in the car after school and said he was not going back to school. When I asked him why he said that he needed a new teacher! I was wondering why, after more than half the year had gone by already and he liked his teacher, why he needed a new teacher. I asked if he had a bad day and got in trouble for something and he very loudly said “NO! She does not know her colors so I don’t think she should be a teacher”.
He was very serious so I did the best to hide the smile on my face; it was very hard to do. When I inquired further as to why he thought she did not know her colors he said “She said I was black and we both know I am brown!” Well I could not control the giggle that came out, and he looked offended that I giggled. I bit my lip and looked at him and said “Honey you are black” and he began to cry uncontrollably.
When I got him to stop crying I asked him why he was so upset and he said “You’re my mom and you lied to me and said I am black”. After that my other two children (both Caucasian) looked at me like I just told them the big guy in the red suit was not real. So I told them we would talk about it when we got home.
When we got home I told him that even though his skin is brown people refer to him as black. He wanted no part of this, he was brown and that is all there is too it. He is in 3rd grade now and still insist he is brown, he still gets mad when someone says he is black. I have talked to some African American friends and they say that their kids say the same thing. That was a big relief I was beginning to think to he thought this way because the rest of his family is Caucasian.