The title of this blog is taken from the Norman Rockwell painting shown here. It's a painting of Ruby Bridges being escorted to her first grade classroom by federal marshalls because they feared for her safety as she was the only black child in her elementary school integrating into a previously all white school.



Some of us study Black history as part of Black History Month and then forget about it until the following February. Others of us, as parents of children of African descent, have internalized it and watch our children live it every day out in the world.

I have pondered tonight whether or not to write this blog. At first I was inspired to write it because I was angry. Angry enough to want to go to battle, but now after I have calmed down, I am just sad. Sad and tired at what I perceive to be ignorance in the world. Ignorance born of fear of those who may be different from us.

I was chatting with a friend tonight, and during our conversation she told me with much pain and anger in her voice about a comment made by a family member. She is leaving in less than a week to adopt a child from China, and her extended family member made a very racist comment about Chinese people, thinking it was funny. I was shocked when she told me what was said and I immediately thought of my own two Chinese sons and how I would feel had something like that been said in my presence...or even worse, if it had been said in their presence. I felt like a mother bear whose cubs had been threatened. I was ready to come out of my den and go for that person's jugular. What made it worse was this person has been told on more than one occassion that his comments were not funny and yet he persists.

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