one of my students and i have a running gag that whenever i refuse him anything, it must be because he's black. today, another teacher decided to tell me no (can you imagine?), and my student got irate on my behalf. "it's because you're light-skinned!" he was, of course, kidding, since i'm pale, pale white with bleach-blonde hair, but it was still funny.
why my students think i'm light-skinned (as opposed to white):
* willing to try anything once, even koolaid pickles and sausage, biscuit, and jelly (yes, on the biscuit)
* the fact that i sing along with "their" music - hell, i knew "step-daddy" and the "new cha-cha" before they did
* my ability to keep the beat... most of the time
* i love them
i saw a two little girls playing today in a driveway down the street. one was black, one was white. they had obviously grown up together and were close friends. just as natural as can be, one of their brothers came and jumped over them. no racial barriers. it was beautiful. i feel like i miss that sense of racial harmony sometimes when i'm down here because i feel so isolated. it was nice to see two kids just being two kids. you miss so much if you don't have friends of different backgrounds. anyway...