One Day, My Kids Will Be Black by Aleichia
I’ve deeply considered having kids in a world where they will be black,
where the color of their skin and the implications it asserts on their
character will constantly be assumed as their reality. It’s not
something I can control. I can’t decide to bore white children whose
lives won’t be demeaned simply on the basis that their skin has less or
more melanin than another’s. I can’t promise that my child won’t be
the next Sandra Bland, or Trayvon Martin, or Eric Garner. I can’t
promise they won’t be judged. I can’t promise they will find peace in
who they are. My children won’t be able to take off their skin…
So I’ve deeply considered having kids in a world where they will be
black.
Sometimes I sit and think of what a silly risk it is to have color. I didn’t
choose my color, just like I didn’t choose my eyebrows, my feet, or my
hands. It’s simply a part of who I am and yet, the America that I belong
to and the America that I know and understand treats me as though
my body were a crime. Why should I have kids in a world so blind?
My answer is this. My mother bore me knowing I would be black. Her
mother bore her with the same consent. If I have children I can teach
them to live beyond the stereotypes, to implement change, to speak
out against such ignorant intolerance, and to know and let it be known
that you can not formalize what it means to be black. Because you
can not formalize what it means to be human.
So I’ve deeply considered having kids in a world where they will be
black, because the world may not be ready for it.
Aleichia is a Latin American, native New Yorker, who is currently traveling the world in between classes. She studies History at Texas A&M-CC. She loves laughing and drinking wine at unconventional times of the day and she aspires to one day become Hollywood’s greatest female director.
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