Counting Fish

This morning when I dropped Troy off at daycare, a young black woman was working the front desk. She greeted Troy by name with a cheery and pleasant disposition. After bidding me a good day, she took Troy’s little hand and led him into the building. He pointed at the fish tank, and she said, “Do you want to stop and count the fish?” So, they counted the fish together, and she took the time to talk to him about the different fish and how they work together to create an ecosystem. Troy listened with rapt attention and asked “questions,” which the nice young woman eagerly answered with patience and kindness.

The reason I bring this moment up is that in this day and age with all of the racism protests, I saw a sweet and innocent interaction between two people of different colors. Neither held the color of the other against them. The interaction was nice and respectful. In fact, I’d bet that neither even saw the color of the other, or if they did, it was a passing observation, rather than an attribution of stereotypes. It made me proud that my son is not afraid, or suspicious, or judgmental of someone because of the color of their skin. He chooses to judge their heart instead. That type of love and acceptance is how we want to raise him.