A lesson in racism for 2nd Graders

First day of my intership. It was casual Friday. I was overdressed. I tried to remember what my teachers wore back in High-school down to Elementary school, I couldn't. So I wore all black like I was depressed, I was so excited. I just saw Freedom Writers, I wanted to change somebody's life from just sitting in the sidelines in a second grade class. The school's in the burbs...nobody's struggling so maybe another time. I go to the front office, it's another girl's first day, dressed in all black on casual Friday. We sit in the office looking side to side.
"You guys interns?"
"I am" I said. It was the other girl's first day as a second grade teacher and she didn't know what the hell she was doing. I guess that's how we all start out.

I get to my class. Jittery 2nd graders waiting for direction. The teacher is very nice and laid back but you can tell winter break came too soon for her. She introduces me to the class.
"This is Ms. S and she's going to be visiting you guys every Thursday or Friday it depends. You guys be nice and listen to whatever she says."
Willy a bright eyed autistic boy bursting with energy raises his hand and says
"Oooh! I know something she can make us have and it starts with an F and it ends with an N!"
Alright I'm going to be honest. I had no idea what it was.
"Fun?" asks the teacher.
"Yes! " That made me smile.
I want to have fun too I guess.

I sit back and wait for reading time to come so I can have something to do. This little brown girl with corn rows walks around the room asking if they know who Chris Brown is. No one knows.
"Well have you seen stomp the yard?" no one saw it. Her and I were the only brown people in the room.

Finally it's Center time and I get to read to kids in small groups at a time. Will the bright eyed autistic kid was so distracted by having a stranger in the glass that he acted the fool until the teacher had to come talk to him "Make the right choices" she says to him. I try to keep from laughing, this boy is hilarious. And insane with numbers. And so particular about details.
"Where's my pencil." he yells. A little kid points in a corner. He finds the ONLY UNSHARPENED PENCIL and goes to the pencil sharpener making a heap of noise in the silent room.

I'm done reading with all the kids.

This is the part where things get awkward. See, Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and they had just had a little 7 year old comprehension level lesson about segregation. Cool. A little girl hands me a Social Studies book and we all turn to page 237. Today we are going to talk about SLAVERY, Harriet Tubman, and Fredrick Douglas. I don't know why it felt so awkward, maybe because me and that little brown girl were the only chocolate people in the room, but it was just like why they hell the first day I decide to intern I have to sit here and listen to this white lady explain to bright eyed 7 year olds what slavery is. They need to learn one day, why not with me sitting here looking around the room. It was interesting the way the book explained it in kid terms "There once was a time in America when everybody wasn't free. This was called Slavery. These people were taken from Africa and forced to work in plantations and were not paid. If they didn't do what they were told "bad things" would happen to them." Lol...bad things. The "bad things" like whippings and lynching get explained more detail in 3rd grade I guess. It's funny how curriculum changes, I don't think I was taught about slavery in 2nd grade.

One kid raises his hand and says "Are there slaves today"
"Do you see African Americans in this room?" she says.
"Yes?"
"Then no we don't have slaves."

Now. Me and the Chris Brown Fan were the only brown people in the room. All she had to say was "No" as Ms. Desy best suggested. I looked on page 256 hoping the lesson was Spanish Culture...but it wasn't. It was page 238. Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad. I didn't mind getting my mind refreshed. It's sad how little we know, even about the most generic examples.

Finally it's lunch time. I get to eat school lunch again...yay. Everybody stands to get in line. Chris Brown fan asks me if I know who Chris Brown is. I said yes.
"Did you see Stomp the Yard?" she asks.
"Yes." Am I being a good example?
Finally someone knows who Chris Brown is! she yells.

School lunch is . ONE HOTDOG. Chocolate milk and some carrots. I want two hotdogs but the lady won't let me. WOMAN I AM THREE TIMES THE SIZE OF THESE KIDS I CAN'T EAT WHAT THEY EAT. It costs $2.50, I got robbed. Next time I'm bringing my own lunch. I left early because there was nothing else to do. Next Friday I'm wearing jeans.