a genuine question

There was a girl today that I was trying to get to read. She wouldn't, and I wouldn't let her have snack until she did. Finally, after much teeth pulling (of the metaphorical kind) she relented and together we read about the Civil Rights Movement, something she- as an 8 year old- is very interested in.

The torrents of cold water kept most of the people away today, allowing me to sit with her alone for a bit while she ate her snack after finishing reading. She was quiet, presumably because she was eating, but actually because she was pondering this question. She looked up:

"Miss Kirsten, I've been meaning to ask you. Did you used to do those things to black people?"


Hilarious. Adorable. Hilarious.

I just want to repeat that so the magnitude of how awesome and hilarious a question it is to be asked out of the blue will sink in. Here I am, expecting something along the lines of "Do I have to read everyday?" or "Can we make necklaces" or "I like oranges" or "Have you seen that Sundrop commercial?" and this is what follows
"Miss Kirsten, I've been meaning to ask you." I've been meaning to ask you Brilliant. This is something she's thought about. Wondered. Looked for the appropriate moment. Felt comfortable bringing up.

"Did you used to do those things to black people?" Yes, yes I did. I was a raging racist who perpetrated both intentional and passive hate crimes decades before my birth and protested the change of establishment towards a more just and free society. And now I work with inner city youth. She wanted to know. It seemed like a reasonable question to ask, and I seemed like a reasonable person to ask it to, probably being the only white person she knows. Or at least the only one she can approach informally.


I love everything about this moment. No sarcasm.




As a separate thought, it's kind of a profound understanding of racism and social pressures. She likes me, so she thought that even good people were capable of great evil. I explained that I had not, nor had my parents. Then I asked her if she used to do those things to white people. I thought she would take it as a joke.
She paused and then answered seriously "No. I try not to be mean to white people just because they are white. I don't like it when I see people do that."

We talked about why things like that happen. She said it's just like bullying. Then, she gave a real life example at school, where SHE IS THE BULLY and doesn't stand up for the nose pickers because everyone else would think they are gross.
She idolizes Rosa Parks, not like most kids do (because she started a movement) but because she grasps the weight of Rosa's actions as being something so brave because Rosa had every reason to believe that the whole world disagreed with her and yet still chose to do what she thought was right. The craziest thing is that this girl gets it all from inside her own head. I mean, I know her family and see her homework and hear what they teach. She's not repeating rhetoric. She is just interested in civil rights and thinks these thoughts on her own.