I have a son. At the time of the events in this post, he was just under 3 years old and we were flying with him from England to Barcelona on that significant day to meet with his father. It is worth noting immediately that in England we live in a town where, according to official data, the least number of representatives of the Negroid race lives. That is, to see a black man here is almost unrealistic! And in general, except for the English and a few Europeans (which I know personally), representatives of other nationalities will not be met with fire during the day.



So, we sat in the plane with the child. In the next row with us was a man, looking 45 years old, whose skin color was blue-black. I have rarely seen such things in my whole life. My child began to look at our neighbors and, of course, his gaze couldn’t help but get stuck to such an “interesting” person.

Shortly thinking, the son asked me very loudly and very clearly: "MOM! Look how black it is! Mom, just look at it! Why is he so black? ! to “I lost the gift of speech for a moment. I, of course, understood that there was nothing shameful about the surprise of a 3-year-old child, but when that child cried, "Black! The Black! “You unwittingly start worrying that others will suspect you of racism. Gathered in spirit, I tried to hug my son a little, kicked him in the ear and began to murmur something unclear about the fact that he was born like that and he is a representative of another race. Ha-ha... like a child will understand what a race is... especially another))

At this point, the man, apparently suspecting my embarrassment, began a conversation with my son. Then, (M) is a man, (R) is a child.



M: Hi baby! How is it?

R is OK! He looks at him surprised.

Q: Are you interested in the color of my skin?

R: Yes, she is very black!

M: Have you ever seen that?

R is no. Only on TV, probably.

Do you know why she is so black?

R is no? ! to ? to ! to

M: Because I was born in Africa. This is a country where the sun shines brightly. We are hot there. And many people in Africa have black skin. The black color of the skin protects us from such bright sun. After all, if I had a skin color like yours, white, it would just burn in such a sun. It would also be black.

R:... looking carefully at his white skin.

M: When you go to Africa, be sure to apply sunscreen.

R: Yes, my mom always squeezes me. In Turkey, there is a masala. I am still white.

M: It is good! But even if you become black, you will still be beautiful. You are a wonderful child!



This dialogue ended safely. And I am still grateful to that man for such a wonderful approach to the matter. Since then, my child has seen black people repeatedly, but he miraculously remembered that the skin of this color was given to them to protect them from the African sun. And no racism!