I was introduced to desegregation at the beginning of my second grade year. The superintendent hand-picked the minority families that he wanted to attend the "all white" school. My parent's children were among the "chosen ones." I did not realize this fact until I was long into my adulthood.
It was fifth grade year for me, when after three years of partial desegregation, those children from the "black school" were set to join the students from the "white school." We went to a brand new middle school and I was excited because now there would be more people "like me" in my class. After the first few weeks, I found myself again wondering why I could never make a connection with any of the new students. One day, another child had the vocabulary to actually express her feelings in a manner that drove the point home. She said to me, "You act too white."
Thus began my "bird walk" between the two (really three) races. In essence, I was an enigma, and recess continued to be lonely.
I will have to examine Jaren's fifth-grade story tomorrow -
No comments:
Post a Comment