Ignorance is Bliss

We attended a wedding reception last weekend at a town nearby. We were looking forward to an evening out alone. By alone, I mean without the children. Everything was going well, a glass of wine, a delicious meal, just about time for the dance to begin.  A Stevie Wonder song began playing. The man next to us leaned over and stated he thought it was strange when a "white" couple played Stevie Wonder music at their weddings with a chuckle. Every hair on my body stood straight up; this should have been my first cue it was NOT going to end there. The man proceeded to tell an awful joke about Stevie Wonder in reference to his color. I looked directly at this man immediately after the joke left his lips and stated, "OUR daughter is BLACK." The man coughed a few times, took a drink, and began to tell us all about a "friend" of his that adopted a Chinese child. An apology?...oh no.  

As I sat at the table, I fought back tears and swallowed the lump in my throat. My mind was instantly drawn to my child, she will fight this all of her life. My son will have to fight these fight on her behalf also. I knew it was going to be difficult in theory to be a biracial family, but now it is becoming a reality. 

I hope that some day we will immediately be ready with a "stop you in your tracks" one liners to end the statement or "joke" before it begins. 

Here are a few other situation we have dealt with this far:

I had an anonymous person leave a post on this blog a few months ago about how racism is dead. "People" need to get over it. That I should be happy and honored that someone addressed my child as Barack Obama. (Previous post "Did You Just Call My Baby Obama?') I did not post this ridiculous comment to my wall. 

We have had others tell us they are afraid to tell us jokes or talk to us because they are afraid they will say the wrong thing.  They insist their "jokes" are just meant to be funny; they are NOT racist or hurtful. My question for them is why would a joke ever make you fearful if deep down in your heart you knew it was harmless. 

We had a distant relative tell us how his children want to move because they live in a town that houses too many hispanics. 

Racism is not dead my friends and I know we haven't even seen the tip of the iceberg. As a caucasian woman, it was so easy to have closed eyes to all of this. Ignorance is bliss. 

Because it is too funny not to share!

What did my child learn from PBS? Her ABC's? Colors? Numbers? Shapes?  No, she learned how to "beat box!"
http://youtu.be/HidDjujNI-g

Ethiopia

The trip to Ethiopia was amazing! We packed more into the 2 days in-country then I could have imagined. We hired a driver to take us around the city. (If you would like the name and number of the tour guide, please let me know. I would love to share; they were wonderful.) They took us up Mount. Entoto, where we saw the 1st christian Emperor's home and church. We shopped, ate, and explored the city with 2 children in tow. It was a busy few days, but totally fantastic!

It was so amazing being a part of my friend's "gotcha" day! Words can't even begin to explain how awesome it was. Her boys are so sweet and simply beautiful.  I tried to stand back and let the bonding between mother and child begin.  And it did!  The boys would color a picture or finish a puzzle; they would run pass me and call their mother to see what they had done. The 2 year old would close is coloring book and walk past me, so only HIS mother could see his accomplishment and praise him! It was so fun to watch the mother and child bond begin. Thank you to the V family for allowing me to be a part of your trip.

I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos from the trip.

On the way down from Mount Entoto - a woman carrying her child, selling some type of grain. Addis Ababa below

 One of the shops in the postal district.

 I love this photo of all the little old men wearing suits, hats and carrying umbrellas. (It could use a little editing and cropping.)