The Boy Teacher and the Father Student # 85; The Racism Talk and a Quiz

I figured that our conversation are growing stale. Our meal table is growing weak with questions and answers as we are 24/7 together. “What is new?” is lame now because we all share it.

This is eclectic to say the least. But life is. We bounce around in life. Wouldn’t it be great to sit down and write a whole novel without things like sleep, eating, outdoors, cleaning and cooking and some movie? And the list goes on. Well no that would not be cool at all.

So sometimes our conversations are long. But sometimes those are boring and we just take out the good parts. Quotes so to speak. I do not want to hijack these with a lecture on how to trim a tree, bougainvillea or rose bush. (However with that said I will soon publish an article about poo, obsession of parents in anything and oral care for child learning, “Clean your room or no desert” :-)

Now there are going to be references to online stuff. The boy is way over a two hour limit. But that includes Zoom school classes and a good bit of homework. I would estimate that he also spends about 30 minutes a day looking things up and learning and then sharing it. Maybe more. And then there is the deal about playing with friends. Problematic with quarantine. Online there is real social interaction – sans physical play. So for every minute on it there must be corresponding outside play. A little rough in our current 100 degree F weather.

Life is a mystical cavalcade or newness mixed with the old. And we seem to love it. Here is a good one for you; “Hey dad, beside you and mom and my hamster who is the smartest mammal in the house?” Well boy that would be you who is the smartest. “See, you said it I am the smartest.” We need to get a dog who could be you. Now that riddle may seem just cute but the reality is that in mathematics and logic it is a mile stone. It requires 3 sets that are not congruent. Mammals, in the house and smartest. He basically removed all but himself from “in the house”. The fish, the birds are excluded for overlapping set reasons all in the negative. Makes my head spin.

F: So son do you know about the riots?

B: Yes, a little bit.

F: What do you think about them?

B: They are bad, they burnt down a police station and people have died.

F: Do you know why they started?

B: A bad policeman killed a bad man?

F: Why do you call them bad rather than what we say?

B: Dad I know that sometimes good people do bad things and it does not make them bad. But you said that sometimes there are just bad people.

F: Why is the poor fellow who got killed “bad”?

B: Mom looked it up. And when you were talking you said he had a bad “rap” sheet.

F: Generally going to prison and using a gun to do a crime is not an indication of a good person. We understand that he was also high on some bad drugs.

B: Maybe he had bad parents.

F: What do you think about the idea of race and racism?

B: That is really weird. I am the only person like me that I know. Mom says she is yellow. I think that is a joke about race.

F: Do you know what color he was?

B: I think he must have been black colored because it is black people who are mad.

F: Let’s table this for now but talk about it in a few.

B: We should say “let’s mesa” like Spanglish.

Perhaps we should teach the boy more about race, but he is a minority so what is the point?

The Quiz

Q: What is your favorite color today and why?

B: White because my hamster is white.

Q: What is your favorite online game?

B: PUBg Mobile

Q: Who are your gaming friends?

B: CJ, Leon, iccorndogs, hduzzins, elitez, billybobjoe.

Q: What is your favorite quarantine food?

B: Ice Cream.

Q: Do you like the quarantine Zoom learning more than regular school?

B: Yes.

Q: Is playing outside with mom and I as good as recess?

B: Yes.

Q: How many experiments have you done while home?

B: 4.

Q: How many projects have you done with crafts?

B: 8

Q: How many hours have you done with Zoom and your teacher?

B: A lot.

Q: What is your favorite animal today and why?

B: Hamster because he is my pet. The others are every ones.

Q: What is your favorite learning subject today and why?*

B: Reading because it is easy.

Q: Are your mom and I good teachers and why not?

B: Yes.

Q: I think with all this time together the three of us are becoming best friends. What do you think?

B: No because you are my parents.

Q: You have worldwide gaming buddies now, what is your favorite country of all of them that your buddies are from? I like CJ from Jamaica – you can hear his parents tell him to stop, like us.

B: Jamaica for sure.

Q: Favorite stupid commercial on the net?

B: McDonalds because they are the stupidest.

Q: Fish, birds and a hamster, what is your favorite. I already know but tell me why so you can verbalize your thoughts and feelings. I know boring but it helps you verbalize them to yourself.

B: Hamster because why not.

Q: I want you to make and write a card to your Auntie/Godmother today. It will cheer her up. Do we have a problem with that?

B: Tomorrow?

The quiz is a checkup. Quite random I wonder how many parents do not know their child’s favorite color. We usually ask each other every day and it is cool to know, for no good reason. Well I take that back. The reason and purpose is to make sure we are on the same page, albeit with different perspectives. How well do we really know anyone?

I am writing a piece on racism. I thought that there must be a good side to the concept. I spent way to much time trying to come up with one. So then I turned my attention to just plain “old” race and the reason for the construct. Perhaps a good reason for that? Again I spent way too much time trying to come up with one to abject failure. Finding no good reason for either I turned to the why.

Think of it this way. Had white Americans thought that there was no race then the justification for considering slaves as chattel would be lost. And that may be the most disturbing of all. You see up until about the time of Americans entering the slave trade. “Race” was not an issue in slavery. What this tells us is that we now knew it was dead wrong and had to find excuses/justifications morally. That was some sick stuff.

So in keeping with this article I came to a conclusion. Just to outright demand my son understands that “race” is all a load of it. There simply is not a separate race in reason.

And I can guarantee there is not room in a heart filled with love for hate or racism.