Did you ever feel you had to do something extra raising black children in white places?
A whole lot. It’s very hard to raise black children, especially black sons, because that’s the target. You have to constantly undo the negative, when they come home with stories from school. When Michael Jr. went to school, they were touching his hair. He was the only non-white child in the class and he came home and told me about it. I called the principal and asked them to allow me to come to give a talk on Haiti. The principal was very open. It went very well. I made plantain chips. The kids ate the entire bowl and asked when I was going to bring more. I explained that the way they feel Michael’s hair is different, he feels the same way about them. They never touched his hair again. They could point to where Haiti was, because I brought my globe. I explained Haiti was the first black republic in the world. From time to time you have to counter-attack, because they can destroy that child before he even has a chance.
Did you have similar concerns about raising a girl?
As long as women are not taken seriously, they will find their way, quietly, and become whatever they want to become. With black men, there is a pronounced opposition. When society starts taking women seriously, black women will have the same problems as black men.
- Roxanne Gay interviews her own mother, from full article at The Hairpin
