Day 702 - The Race Game

Unlike network television, children books are very good at making sure people of all colors are represented. Although I admit I have yet to see an albino unless you count the Little Golden Book version of The DaVinci Code. When you turn the pages of any kiddie book with a bunch of babies, you can bet that they'll be better represented than the general assembly at the United Nation.

I don't know when babies and toddlers are able to tell the difference between someone who is Asian or Latino, but I have to guess that it is earlier than later. From the moment we start talking and reading to our kids, we begin to explain the differences of objects by the way they look. A square has four sides. A strawberry is red. A perfect woman is 36-24-36. Whether or not we teach our children what an Asian or Latino looks like is another story, but I do think kids understand that people can look different.

I was reading Emma a book that had a variety of baby pictures. Not one of those freaky Anne Geddes photo books, but just a generic book with babies doing baby things. As I began to turn the pages, Emma pointed to one of the pictures and said, "An-doo!" And yes, she sadly pronounces words like Crazy Grandma Ichikawa. Here's the picture she pointed to:


I told Emma that this was not a picture of Andrew, but Asians unfortunately have the burden of looking alike. Emma looked at me and nodded in agreement as she pointed at me and said, "Yah Mama." Oh well. Not the first time I was mistaken for a woman.

Continuing on with the book, another picture of an Asian baby appeared and Emma again said, "An-doo!" I again explained to Emma that it was not Andrew, but just one of many Asian doppelgangers that she will encounter throughout life. Here's the next picture she pointed to:


The second time she pointed towards an Asian baby, I began to realize how early on kids can associate a certain look or appearance with another person. I always hated how people can be labeled a certain type of person and be stuck with it whether or not it was true or not. But because of that label, any actions that person takes is interpreted through that label. Like if you were labeled a geek or a nerd or a freak or a dumbass husband, it might be hard to get rid of that characterization...not that I'm referring to anyone in particular.

But then as I finished the book, Emma pointed to one more picture and said, "An-doo!" Here's the last picture:


I told Emma that perhaps that might've been a picture of Tiger Woods as a baby and closed the book. After all of the Asian babies she pointed to and then picking out the African-American baby as Andrew, I thought how this could be an interesting story about being color-blind. But after some thought, it's not as important to teach your kids to be color-blind as it is to teach your kids not to be prejudice. Hopefully our kids will grow up to be non-judgmental about other races and cultures and not believe in stereotypes. And with that, I gathered the family in our rickshaw, pulled them home to our rice patty, ate rice, played with our abacuses, and went to sleep.