That Time of Year!

It's that time of year again -- around MLK's birthday -- when we have lots of conversations about race at our house. Now, it's not the only time we talk about race, but the girls always have lots of questions about Jim Crow (they don't know to call it that particularly, but that's what the questions are about), civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, etc.

Zoe came home from school yesterday singing a very cool new song:

1. If you miss me from the back of the bus
And you can’t find me nowhere
Come on up to the front of the bus
I’ll be riding up there (3x)

2. If you miss me from Jackson State
And you can’t find me nowhere
Come on over to Ole Miss
I’ll be studying over there (3x)

3. If you miss me from the cotton fields
And you can’t find me nowhere
Come on down to the courthouse
I’ll be voting right there (3x)

Click here for the full lyrics.

All this led to a really interesting discussion about racial teasing, and both girls tell me they haven't experienced it at all (I know that kids don't always tell their parents about it, but I asked it enough different ways that I'm pretty sure they're telling it to me straight.)

We were talking about what they could do if there was such teasing, with lots of role-play -- "what would you do if someone did/said . . . ." Zoe just blew me away with one of her answers. I asked, "What would you do if someone was speaking in fake-Chinese [you know the funny sounds to insert here, I'm sure] to tease you?"

Zoe responded, "I'd say, [and then all in Chinese] 'Hello, My name is Zoe and I'm 8 years old. How are you? Do you like school? I have a mother, a younger sister and a grandmother (maternal) and grandfather (maternal). How about you?' And then when they asked me what I said, I'd answer, 'You must know -- you DO speak Chinese, don't you?!'"

Smart cookie!