Is your person white?

I have never lived in a place where the color of your skin is brought up as much as it is in South Florida. Almost daily, I hear comments about this topic. Because I have more of an "olive" complexion, when I first moved down here, my children and youth continuously asked me the infamous question of, "what are you?" I was obviously very thrown off by the question. I liked to thrown them off just as much by answering that I was "Texan." They didn't appreciate my humor.

Now that it was been over a year since I have made the move to South Florida, I don't usually notice when kids start talking about the color of someone's skin. Words like "black" and "white," which used to shock my painfully politically correct upbringing, now tend to sound common place. The bell no longer goes off in my head when I hear a young child ask someone what color they are.

Today, however, I couldn't help but laugh when I watched two of my fifth grade girls play "Guess Who?" Every time they started a new game, the very first question out of either of their mouths was, "Is your person white?" I promise, I almost lost it the first time I watched their game. However, to be fair, the next thought that ran through my head was, "What a good strategy, I wish I had used it." Because, honestly, if the answer to the question is, "no," you have basically won the game considering there are only approximately five people of race that is questionably something other than "white." Also, to be fair, I'm pretty sure they have introduced new players into the game since I was a child.

However, watching the contemporary minds of two eleven year old girls in South Florida happened to make me pause today for thought.