Lessons from Kade

It all started on the ride down to St. Louis.

Kade - You know Ruby Bridges?

Now we were on a bridge when he said this.

Me - No, this isn't the Ruby Bridge, I don't know the name of this bridge.

Kade - No, not a bridge, I mean, Ruby Bridges. You know, Ruby Bridges.

Me - No, honey, I don't know. A person?

Kade - Yes, she's still alive.

Me - Who's still alive?

Kade - RUBY BRIDGES.

Me - Okay hon, I got that part, but I don't know who she is.

Kade - You know, Ruby Bridges, the little girl.

Me - Hon, you have to explain. Did she do something notable? I don't recognize the name, sweetie.

Kade - Remember back when white people and black people hated each other?

Me - Uh, ok... ooh yes! I'm with you now! She was the first black student to go to a white school, yes?

Kade - Yes! Ruby Bridges.

I felt like the biggest jerk for not knowing her name. I was taught Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad (in earlier times), Martin Luther King Jr. and even a bit of Malcolm X (albeit sparingly, lest the teachers accidently promote violence, big roll eyes there.) but I don't remember being taught Ruby Bridges. I learn something new everyday. The good thing is that since my seven year old son made me feel like an ass, I'm not likely to forget her name ever.

Since this is Martin Luther King Jr. Day (ya'll better OBSERRRRRRRRRVE, as K1 would say), and since next month is Black History month, Kade's class has done some studying. Now kids understand a lot of things. They often express it in naive terms, but they do understand. Awhile back, The Tuskegee Airmen was on and we watched it, because it's a war movie and war movies get played relentlessly in my house. I remember we watched the one scene where the guy comes off of duty, having served his country, only to be presented by a sign that that designated that whites go right and blacks go left. Kade asked why that was so. I explained it to him. I could never accurately describe the look of disgust that came across his face.

Don't get me wrong, racism still exists, I know. But the world is different to my son and his friends. He and his best friend, maybe they are sheltered, maybe if they lived in a bigger city, it would not be so different to them. Maybe in a different time, a different place, they would not even be allowed to be best friends. But the other day, I was confronted with my son and his best friend who came to ask me what the "n word" meant. They heard it on the playground and THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT IT MEANT. For that, I was grateful. I explained to them both that whoever said it was not a friend and it was not a nice word, never appropriate to say.

Sometimes, it's better to see the world through a child's eyes. My son told me there were no black people. There were no white people. There were brown and peach people though. But in the end, they were all just people.

And I smiled.