"You're Not Black"
The other day I asked Beatrix to tell me a story. She started out "Once upon a time there was a girl named Beatrix. She had a very wonderful friend named Aubrie. The reason that Aubrie was so wonderful is that she believed Beatrix when Beatrix said she was black, and didn't say that that could not possibly be true."
I kind of stopped short.
It's one thing to remind your daughter that she is black even though she doesn't look it, and to point out in her DNA test the parts of Africa her ancestors come from, or to tell her stories about her family and how they fought for civil rights (while at the same time she takes Norwegian dance and we talk about where the rest of her family is from, which is a real mixed bag.)
But because I just don't normally think about it (definition of privilege there, right?), it honestly had not sunk in to me how much it weighs on Beatrix to have her race challenged. And I don't know the right solution for that.
Maybe this video from National Geographic just says it best.
I kind of stopped short.
It's one thing to remind your daughter that she is black even though she doesn't look it, and to point out in her DNA test the parts of Africa her ancestors come from, or to tell her stories about her family and how they fought for civil rights (while at the same time she takes Norwegian dance and we talk about where the rest of her family is from, which is a real mixed bag.)
But because I just don't normally think about it (definition of privilege there, right?), it honestly had not sunk in to me how much it weighs on Beatrix to have her race challenged. And I don't know the right solution for that.
Maybe this video from National Geographic just says it best.
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