Reflection: colorism as teasing

Most often I hear students engaging in basic categorization of themselves and their peers. "I'm white. You're black." But, over and over I am reminded of the ways in which society reinforces light skinned privilege. (If you need some information on colorism within the African American community, read this article for context.)

A few weeks ago I heard one of my students taunting another, "You're white." My first reaction was to feel frustrated. We have been talking about the ways that all of our browns are beautiful since the beginning of the year -- nearly nine months ago.

My next reaction was to pull them aside and talk about what they were saying and why. Turns out, the student was feeling frustrated and spoke from a place of hurt. We talked about how to handle when someone is bothering you, and about how all our skin is beautiful.

Neither of them could name a skin color other than black or white, but one student offered to get the skin colored pencils. We spent some time talking about each color and how to find a match. I did it for myself first and mentioned that I could never quite find a perfect match for my skin so I just narrowed it down and picked the closest one. On reflection, I wish I had had them draw a picture of themselves together with some positive skin labeling, but it's not too late. I could talk to them about it again today.

Just like when you teach Kindergartners any abstract concept -- a question versus a sentence, long and short vowel sounds -- you need to repeat yourself. Some children will need small groups. Others will need one-on-one time with you. Promise yourself that you will address race every time it comes up in your classroom for a month and see what happens.