I started a new book the other day called Caucasia. I was only a few pages in when a line hit me. One of the main characters was reminiscing about a turbulent time when racial tensions were high and quoted this chant
“A fight, a fight a nigga and a white”
That line had me pause for a few moments. I suddenly remembered chanting that on the schoolyard as a kid. That was the standard chant if a black and white kid were fighting.
Now before you start thinking I grew up in the 60’s let me just tell you that this was Jane and finch- Toronto Ontario in the ’80s.
I started wondering how racist lingo continuous to get passed down generation to generation. It’s crazy when you think about it.
As a child, I became intrigued by black history and spent years educating myself to the plight of my people and learning extraordinary things that I would never hear about in school.
There’s still a lot I don’t know but somewhere along the line, I did learn that racism was wrong and that I shouldn’t use the word nigger for anything.
I learned pride in my race and culture.
So what about the kids that don’t learn black history ever and don’t know where they come from?
I’m under the belief that racism is passed down in families. It’s really clear to see. Families perpetuate racism and then kids take it to school. Without education, we will see racist comments and lingo spoken from one generation on the playground to the next. Why else have I heard the same insults on the schoolyard as an adult that I once heard as a child? I hear the same hurtful stories of young girls and boys being told they are as black as tar and other insults that suggest that it is unacceptable to be too dark.
We have to teach the young ones to speak up and not to participate in racism and colorism.
If children every day are learning who they are they will learn to uplift each other instead of tearing each other apart.
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