Member-only story
Kids don’t care about skin color
Why does it matter to grown-ups?
Young children can teach all of us a life lesson on inclusion.
When my son was three years old, I took him out for some father-son time. As a rite of passage, I introduced him to a good burger and fries at a local restaurant.
He clutched my hand as we walked out of the restaurant. The early evening sun was still shining bright in the sky. It was too soon to go home, so we headed to an area park to burn off a bit of energy.
Normally, I would hop on the playground equipment right along with him. But since other kids were there, I opted to sit on a nearby bench and let him run around with his own age group. He was having a ball, and I was content sitting quietly to allow my burger to digest.
Something became apparent while watching the kids running and squealing with delight.
I realized my blond, blue-eyed son was very easy to spot. He was the only Caucasian child in the entire park. All the other kids appeared to be African-American.
Did it bother me? Not at all. It was just an observation I could not help but notice.
Then I noticed something else. My son did not care either. He was climbing up ladders, down slides, and swinging with the other kids, completely…
