question about race / racial perception

[ulysses]

Hey, it's Saturday night, why not? :silly:

I got a compliment from a student this last week. For those who don't know, I work in a public middle school whose student body is 98% African-American and deeply poor. I am pretty profoundly white and from a middle class background. Anyway, a student during 7th grade lunch on Wednesday was talking about a planned field trip to see the Universoul Circus with her friends, and was explaining to them that she would rather see it than, say, Barnum and Bailey. I happened to be walking by her table and made eye contact with her just as she said, to her friends, "I don't look at white people!"

Me, somewhat amused: "You're looking at one now, hon."

Her, dead serious: "No, no, Mr. Uly. You're black. You're just light skinned."

I've gotten comments like this before - the first time I nearly fell over. I understand it to be a compliment and very much take it as such, but I guess I'm not used to thinking of race in metaphoric terms, which is how I *think* she meant it. Then again, some other teachers have suggested that she really thinks I'm just a remarkably light skinned black man.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Solo_in_MD]

1. The eye contact thing is cultural

Ive called a middle school principal out on it. He was not amused to have his cultural insensitivity pointed out to him.

[Karenina]

2. The student was telling you

HER TRUTH. She does not see a "white" person when she sees you. She sees Mr. U. who-is-one-of-us.

[ulysses]

3. fair enough.

Suffice to say that working at this school has been at least as much a learning experience for me as it has been for my kids. :D

[Karenina]

4. Another point...

Due to "miscegenation"(oh, how I hate that word, its definition and... never mind) the skin tones and physical features of "black" people are all over the map. As an infant, my imprint of my "tribe" had NOTHING to do with what anyone looked like. We look like a U.N. convention. I grew up being yelled at in a half dozen languages and never once misunderstood the point.