A Race...it's not just for running.

As most people know Monday we celebrated Martin Luther King's Birthday. Well I was riding in the car with a married couple I'm friends with and their two small children(btw they are white). While we were traveling they asked me if I could tell their daughter some things about MLK. They said they really didn't know that much, but was wondering if I could shed some light on his life for her.

Of course the first thing I thought was o.k. so I know I'm black, but does that automatically mean that I know about MLK. Is that why they are asking me? Did they ask anybody else that day? Well the truth is I do know a lot about Martin Luther King, but I of course was trying to figure out how to make it understandable to a 6-year old. Not quite the same thing as talking to an adult. I remember when I first started learning about the not some great history of the United States. I thought I should leave the emotional scarring to her parents.

When I got home I started thinking... Next month is Black History Month. I started reflecting over the years and different things I used to do in school during that month to learn about the history of Africa and the history of African Americans in the United States. Because my father was in the military my family used to move around a lot. And there were quite a few times where I would be in a class and we were learning about black history. I would not only be the only black person in class, but sometimes the only ethnic person in class. And the moment the issue of slavery, the struggle of blacks, or the civil rights movement would come up, everyone would turn around and look at me. I was like I'm 9. I don't know anything about the struggle of the black man in this country. I just learned how to read last year. (Just kidding there). Just last week a friend of mine was asking me what was it like growing up as a black person in this country. I didn't know exactly what to say. I mean it's not like I have the option of growing up white in this country so I'm not sure what he wanted to hear. I told him some of my experiences. I think he was shocked because he didn't expect to hear the things I said. Anyhoo...

I'm not sure where everyone who is reading this is from, but I used to live in a place in the south that had some very interesting views on the celebration of this month. I lived in a town where people drove around with confederate flags and bumper stickers that said, "Some of us don't think the North won!" I even would hear people say things like, "Where do they get off devoting a whole month to Black History?" There isn't a white history month. I would think "Ummm...every month is white history month". I would think why don't we have Native American Month (which I later found out we do, it's just not focused on in the school system). I don't mind learning about Europe per se, but I wouldn't mind learning about the history of other people groups as well.

Anyway just sharing some thoughts...to be continue...