I knew this day was coming but.....

It's Saturday, the day I run errands with my sons. We invariably end up at Target where we'll eat popcorn while perusing the aisles. Today would be no different except for one little thing.


We've been to Target so many times my car practically knows the way on its own. I had the car pointed in the direction of the big red bullseye and was sort of in a trance...probably not good to admit since I was behind the wheel! My sons were strapped in their booster seats, engaged in a deep conversation about something but I have no idea what. I wasn't really paying much attention when off in the distance I noticed my oldest son was saying the same thing over and over again. That's really not uncommon for him. He's like a dog with a bone...just won't let go of anything but the words caught my attention. Over and over he kept telling his brother that he was "different" and his brother was agreeing with him. I'm not going to lie...a little red flag came up in the back of my mind but I tried to ignore it. Don't panic..don't head straight for red alert. There must be a logical explanation for this. In my most nonchalant voice I asked why he was different to which my oldest son replied, "because his skin is brown."  There it was..a reason to panic...man the battle stations boys, full steam ahead!


I tried to remain calm on the outside even though my gut was twisted into a knot. "Who told you that?", I asked. This was the first time they had ever mentioned skin color so I was shocked. Granted the Montessori school they previously attended was probably 50% minorities and this school looks like a bowl of rice pudding with about 4 little raisins thrown in, but even so, I was surprised by my son's comments. If they had been asking questions about skin color, that would be one thing, but this was completely out of the blue.


But I digress. So when I asked who told them this, he said their teacher did. Not gonna lie...my first thought was to swing by a pawn shop to find out if there's a waiting period to buy a handgun. On my way there, I could run by Hobby Lobby for some camouflage fabric. Monday morning, I'm going in with guns blazing!


Okay, so I tried even harder to calm the dialogue in my head long enough to get the full story. Friday was show-n-tell day and they were suppose to bring something brown. For some reason, only my two boys took anything so I guess in an attempt to add a little more interest to the whole event, the teacher said anyone wearing a brown shirt could stand up but I don't think there was any so then she suggested that my youngest son stand up because his skin is brown and that makes him different. I think my ears were ringing at this point as I made a mental note to get plenty of bullets to go with my soon-to-be purchased handgun.


In all fairness to the teacher, I'm not sure if she actually said his brown skin made him "different" or if having the teacher point out the fact that he was the only kid in class with brown skin made my boys suddenly aware of his beautiful carmel colored skin. Either way, my skin was a lovely shade of magenta mixed with fire engine red at this point, at least from the neck up.


I talked to the boys and tried to explain to them that we are all the same, all humans created by God...God's children so to speak and that we should never tell someone they are different because it hurts their feelings. They seemed completely fine with my explanation and didn't really seem upset with the idea that one of them is considered different. Of course at the tender age of five, I'm not sure they really know what different is but the lesson is coming at them fast.


I talked to several friends and family members and even cornered two unsuspecting Target employees who both had beautiful brown skin for their opinions. All, including the girls working at Target, were shocked and hostile about the whole exchange. My dad's convinced her comments were illegal and I think he might be loading a gun even as I write this! 


After speaking with all these people and getting no feedback less than righteous indignation, I knew I wasn't wrong for considering the whole "going postal" option. I decided it would be best to prepare the teacher for what's heading her way on Monday morning so I sent her an email and copied the principal. I'll keep you posted on the outcome of this mess.....I'd certainly like to think this whole thing was just an innocent misunderstanding but it doesn't seem to be the case. I guess I'll find out soon enough.


I love the fact that my little guys are oblivious to the insult they've just encountered. Maybe they'll always be the type of people who just lets someone else's closed-minded opinion roll right off their backs. As a protective mom, I certainly hope so but this issue is bigger than my two kids. America seems to be getting more close-minded by the minute and most people just watch it happen with little or no concern because it doesn't affect them. Well guess what white America, it's about to start affecting your world. The rednecks in Alabama thought it was a great idea to pass laws making it nearly impossible for illegal immigrants to stay in this country and continuing working. Most white people in this country don't really see how this will dent their pocketbooks so let me make it perfectly clear. The Alabama economy is taking a HUGE hit right now because immigrants aren't sending their kids to school and aren't showing up for work. Losing such a large percentage of kids in school reduces their funding so they're in big finance trouble. Not showing up for work means produce rots in the fields, yards go un-mowed and un-manicured, and restaurants can't keep dishes clean and food cooked without a kitchen staff. So how does this affect you? Well the obvious cost is disappearing food in the grocery store. No fresh produce and many canned goods won't be filling the shelves. What is available will cost double or triple. The only way to keep the farms and factories running is to replace the immigrant worker with a white worker but whites won't work the long hours for such low wages. So let's say the owners increased wages to attract the white worker. Does anybody really believe the corporation is going to absorb the increased cost of production? No, the American consumer will foot the bill at the grocery store, restaurants, retail and wholesale stores. An economy which is already hurting will become completely unstable. But hey, at least the illegal immigrants aren't here. Because everyone in this country is willing to stand on principle even if it drains their own personal bank account, right? Hell no. This country is built on people who stand proudly on principle but only if it doesn't cost them a penny.  Bigotry, prejudice, racism can't be tolerated just because it was presented without malice in a 30 second sound bite commercial. It's a battle we should all be fighting, no matter what our skin color happens to be.