Light People and Dark People

I was listening to my daughter today, having a conversation with her brother on the way home from school.  She was in the mood to educate the boy, and today the topic was Martin Luther King Jr.

Now we are suburban and live in a mostly white community.  However, growing up, Eva has had African-American, Hispanic, and biracial children in her daycare, preschool, and present in extracurricular activities.   She has NEVER noticed a difference between herself and the other children.  She has never commented on skin color or any other defining characteristics.  We have never discussed it.  There was never any need to point out a difference that was superficial and based on appearance. 

So imagine my surprise when I overheard the following lecture from her in the car today:

"So Dylan, there was this man, and he helped people.  His name was Martin Luther King.  A long time ago, there was dark people, and people weren't nice to them.  Light people, like you and me, we weren't nice to them.  They had to use different bathrooms, different restaurants, and different fountains.  And if they wanted to get on the bus, they had to sit all the way in the back.  And Martin, he helped the people so the dark people were treated nice."

Eva continued for awhile, Dylan just listened. 

I politically-corrected her on a couple of her assertions to her brother, but her whole conversation completely irritated me. 

Although I love and celebrate the life of Martin Luther King (I teach his legacy to my own students), I couldn't help being bothered by the fact that she has never noticed a dividing factor between herself and a child of color.  Now, unfortunately, I feel her attention will be brought to this detail immediately.  Bummer.