Letter to my children: Labels - the antiracism conversation begins

Dearest Beloveds,

I was reading a book about Susan B. Anthony to the Bean for school. The book outlined her work against slavery, for women’s rights, and for the temperance movement.

I took a breath to read the next paragraph when Bean interrupted, “Momma, what is a black person?”

Where the hell is that coming from? I quickly scanned the page. On it, sure enough, was the phrase “black person” several times. For someone who has never heard this word before it is a really good question. Why didn’t the author say “white Susan B. Anthony” Gark!!! This freaking white privileged soup we swim in! Thank you Bean for pointing this out.

“It is what this author calls someone who has more melatonin in their skin.”

“You mean like Beryl?”

“Yup, exactly like Beryl.”

No time like the present.

“As you know, the slaves Susan B. Anthony was trying to help all came from Africa and many of them had really dark skin. So “black” has become a word our culture uses to define individuals who were slaves or whose ancestors were slaves. It is an artificial label that is untrue because no one is black or white. In our culture, you are known as white.”

“But I have light skin and light hair.”

“Yes, you do. But you are not white, this paper is white. Just like Beryl is not black, this pen is black. They are just words, labels designed to separate people. The labels are artificial constructs designed to put one group above or below another group. To divide, to engender suspicion and fear, to maintain a power dynamic. These labels are part of the racism in our culture. The reason why more black men are in prison than white men. The reason why more black families live in neighborhoods that can be more violent is because white people made rules so they could only live in certain neighborhoods where they were often treated unfairly. Instead of black people being able to own houses, all of that money went to the banks. The banks became wealthy and their neighborhood suffered. When Meme and Baba were growing up there were separate bathrooms for white people or for colored people. Colored is the word that used to be used instead of black. They mean the same thing.”

“You mean Beryl and I would have to use separate bathrooms?”

“Yup.”

“I don’t like that idea.”

“I hear you. Momma was taught in school that our country solved the problem of racism when Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr were alive. But that is not true. People are still being judged on the “color of their skin, not the content of their character,” like Dr. King talked about for his children in his speech. Does this make sense?”

“Sort of.”

“I know, these are big things. We will keep talking about them.”

We will keep talking about them.