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Like a Piano This morning I have been thinking about the huge divide between people that we have in this country right now. And I have been remembering moments from my past. One moment stands out and I think it might be something others can also relate to , so I will share it with you. I was living at the time in Palm Desert, a suburb of Palm Springs, California. It was a high class town, but I lived on the wrong side of the boulevard in the working class neighborhood. I was a newly single mom of two girls, 5 and 6, working two jobs trying to stay afloat financially. My ancestry is Northern European, Irish, English, Norwegian and Swedish so I am about as white skinned as one can be. I am also short and plump. My daughters are even paler than me. My neighbor at the time was a tall, thin,stately ebony black woman from the Caribbean. Her was like her mother, tall for her age, thin and ebony black. Since both of us were struggling single moms at the time, we became friends. We shared our lives and possessions, and watched each others backs and . Her and my youngest were the same age and in the same class at school. They were inseparable. One afternoon, we were all at my house. The girls were planning for their next school day which was "Twin Day" where you and your best friend dressed as twins. Now you must know that my two girls were only 19 months apart, and I often dressed them alike, especially for special occasions. I had several dresses that were identical and one size apart. After much time in Amanda's bedroom, the two girls emerged wearing identical dresses, Amanda in hers and her friend in Katie's dress. They both had on black Mary Jane shoes, and lace-edged socks. They stood before us, arm in arm, huge grins on their faces and said, “All the at school are going to think we are the best twins because we are exactly alike!” My friend and I looked at them, one short, very white, short tousled brown hair, and the other tall, ebony black, short cropped black afro. We both couldn't help it, we started to laugh. The girls were confused and asked why we laughed. “Because you are so different”, we told them. They looked at each other, walked back to the floor length mirror in the hallway.. came back and said, “But we are exactly alike. We have the same dresses, the same shoes, the same socks.” “Nope” We said, “You are still very different." They went back to Amanda's bedroom shaking their heads. After a bit they came back out, still in same clothes but had added matching bows clipped into their hair. “Now we got it, they said.”  This is Amanda dressed for school picture, but wearing the same outfit she wore for twin day. At that point, we realized that they did not see the body differences beyond height. To their eyes they were exactly the same. The did not see the other's skin color to be different from their own. By now my friend and I were close to tears. What a wonderful thing, that innocence. To them they were just friends and when dressed alike, they were alike. They wore the dresses to school the next day and were voted the best twins. I guess the other kindergarteners did not see skin color either. My message: Wouldn't it be a better world if we had never outgrown that blindness ourselves? What would happen if we adults looked beyond our outer differences and instead saw how alike we all are on the inside. Maybe then we could work together to solve our problems without all the hate and rancor, and find the compromise between all our positions for the good of us all. Remember, like a piano, it takes both the black and white keys working together to make the beautiful harmony we call music. bolds textSong: Ebony and Ivory Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney We all know that people are the same where ever we go There is good and bad in everyone We learn to live, we learn to give Each other what we need to survive together alive Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we? Ebony, ivory living in perfect harmony Ebony, ivory, ooh We all know that people are the same where ever we go There is good and bad in everyone We learn to live, we learn to give Each other what we need to survive together alive Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord why don't we? |
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10/17/2013 11:05 pm |
What a great story. My kids grew up in a diverse neighborhood and had many friends from other races. I always had friends of various racial backgrounds and even an interracial relationship while they were growing up. Ironically when they grew up they all settled in with partners of the same backgrounds. I never thought about this but apparently some things did change as they grew up. Spiritwoman ^i^
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This is I call a good blog. We need lots of them in here, So people can come and read and have a great time. Thank you so very much.
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A touching story. It is funny but it is true that children can sometimes behave like adults and conversely, adults can at times behave like children. Lee Live today as if it is your last For tomorrow will soon be in the past
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