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Race

 

             Goldner and Safiya Henderson-Holmes, they talk about Henderson-Holmes ' poem, Friendly Town, going #1. The poem talks about a little girl leaving the inner city to go to camp. On the bus there is a mixture of kids in all colors. In the discussion Holmes talks about being the "' little colored girl ' playing in the park wit all the with kids." she also talks about being alone with a majority of whites.
             I relate to Holmes situation. In elementary school in was surrounded by a mixture of colors. This was also the truth in my neighborhood. I didn't see color, my two best friends were white, one at home and one in school. From grades K through six I had a wonderful time, although all of this changed in seventh grade.
             In seventh grade I had to change schools. The new school was mostly white. In a class with about 30 kids, I was one of five black kids. the questions and the stares started. Many of the questions were directed to my skin color. I am a light skinned women, the rest of the black children in my class were brown or dark skinned. I was constantly asked what was I What other colors besides black was I mixed with? What shade were my parents? this questioning continue until we graduated in eight grade.
             The teachers in the school also had some questions or views about our color. One incident included the teacher stating that she didn't want more than two black kids in a group. she stated that it made her uneasy to have more than two in a group. My response to that was " do you think we are going to start a riot? There are only five of us." .
             When my mother came to the school, there was a look of shock. Here was my light brown skinned mother with light eyes. Everyone looked at her. as if they wanted to ask her, how can a black women get these eyes without contacts. Was it possible? Was it okay to ask her her race or nationality? No one ever asked her, but they always asked me. .
             When it left that school and went on to high school, it was if I was in my first school and in my old neighborhood again.


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