My son takes Tae Kwon Do classes. He likes to show off his pictures and videos to anyone who will look at them! He was sharing them with his cousins last week. Most of them include just him and the only other boy in his class who is at the same belt level, like the one below.
What I found amusing is that when he was showing them, he would always point himself out and say which one was him... even though anyone looking should know what he looks like - not to mention that he is about a foot shorter than the other boy and a different race. He would also point to the other boy and say "That's not me. That's [name of the boy]." Never once, to my delight, did he ever say "He's black" or anything related to his race.
I recall a few years ago when the topic of race came up. At the time, he had 2 friends with the same name. One was black and one was white. So, when I asked to which one he was referring, he was confused when I mentioned them by their race. I don't remember exactly how he phrased it, but basically his response was "he's not white, he's brownish". Yes - he was referring to the white boy, and himself, to not actually being white. In his eyes, white is like snow - and that is not what color we are. So that day, I learned the lesson - and make sure when speaking to him about people I refer to characteristics other than the color of their skin.
A friend recently posted a link to this video on Facebook, which prompted this post. I have to be honest, I never even paid attention that the family was bi-racial. Kudos to Cheerios for making a cute commercial - and for going "outside the box" in more ways than one! Just like my son and the children in this video, I hope that someday we can all be colorblind!
