Kids Say The “Damndest” Things

Hello Everybody.  I have something to say about kids and race.

         I love children. Lately, on Sunday nights after 60 Minutes, I watch “Kids Say the ‘Darndest ‘Things” hosted by Tiffany Haddish. It’s an update of the old  Art Linkletter show of the same name.  Cute precocious children are asked  questions and their answers can be sweet, hilarious and outrageous.

        Recently, Tiffany asked a nine-year-old boy what his ideal wife would be like.

Without hesitation, he said, “Maybe a white girl.”

        The audience gasped and then laughed. Tiffany pretended to cry and told the boy he hurt her feelings, because, as she put it, “I feel you’re telling me I don’t have a chance.”  The little boy seemed to realize that what he may have said the wrong thing, and he buried his head in his hands, while his parents cringed in the audience.

       I wondered why this little boy would specify the race of his ideal wife. He didn’t say she had to be pretty or smart or rich. She had to be white. Where did he get this? From his parents? Friends at school? The media?

       I only saw one boy on TV, but I thought about how many other young boys out there would give a similar answer? Hundreds of thousands? Probably.

       We know there is racial prejudice in America, but that today, it is still reaching down to our young children, is truly depressing. Many people like me dreamed that someday color would not matter. Unfortunately, it will always matter. Huh, I just said the damndest thing.

Until next time.

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