Occasionally, one of them stands to look through the door's opaque windows to see if he can make out a parent coming. I respond, also in Spanish. I try to conceal how his comment saddens and alarms me, because I want to encourage his sharing. His mother, who is slightly darker than he, walks in the door. Ernesto rushes to take her hand and leaves for home.
White privilege is a value deeply ingrained in our social fabric.
Even among co-workers, I hear similar comments. Without knowing it, Ernesto opened the door to a lively dialogue in our classroom about skin color. I started by asking my students if they thought the girl on the book cover was pretty. I was not surprised that several students thought the little girl was ugly. Several students affirmed Ernesto's statement.