I was standing in line in the Dollar Tree store recently when a blonde-haired little girl who looked to be about 5 years old flashed a toothless smile at me. “Hello,” she said. “You have a black face. How did you get that black face?”
I’m usually quick with a comeback, but the girl caught me off guard. After pausing for a few minutes I simply replied, “I was born with it just like you were born with your white face.”
“Oh,” the little girl said, and went about her business.
Imagine that little girl in my classroom 13 years from now. I recognize that little girl in a few of my students.
I’m an African-American faculty member on a predominantly White campus in a town where less than 5 percent of the population is minority.
Many of my students are from White suburban communities or small towns, where diversity is not an issue because there is none. For many of them, their first experiences with minorities and discussions about race happen in my classroom.
Getting my students to talk about race is challenging, at best, on most days.
