We were watching CNN this morning. The morning show gave a brief introduction to Soledad O’Brien’s "Black in America" with a short report and a plug for the series.
Jaimito asked me,"Daddy? What means Black in America?"
"It’s kind of complicated, Jaimito, but let me try to explain." So I ran through a basic primer of just what it meant to be black in America since the days of slavery and why it was still an issue. Olaia helpfully pointed out that things had gotten better because Barack Obama was elected President. "I agree," I said, "and I think it says a lot that the majority of America has gotten past color as a qualification, but that doesn’t mean prejudice doesn’t exist."
And that was that. They asked, I tried to sum up years of legal and cultural discrimination over breakfast. They seemed satisfied and a few minutes passed until Jaimito, who was obviously still pondering something, asked.
"Daddy," he began, "am I black?"
In Puerto Rico they say, “Hasta los blancos son prietos” so the jury is out what’s gonna be dad’s response!