She said WHAT????

I want to preface this post saying that I hope it in no way offends anyone. That is not my intention. It is just another funny story from my funny 12 year old. Seriously, I could write a book alone on all the funny things my girls have said over the years….

A bit of background. Where we have lived for the past 11 years is a lovely town. It is however lacking in cultural diversity.
The elementary school the girls both attended was predominantly Caucasian, with Hispanic being next then African American.
No matter to my kids, they love everyone. They have been raised very open minded in our house and they don’t see color, culture, orientation as factors to judge a person.

When Lindsay was about 5 we were watching the news one day.
A story came on about something to do with racism.
This brought up yet another discussion on why in the world are there so many mean people out there.....

I wish the innocence of a child could get through to the most ignorant of people...the world would be a much better place.

She was so concerned as to why someone would not like someone else because they looked different.
I agreed with her and from there she stated clearly and matter of fact that her very best friend in the world was African American.

I told her how wonderful that was.
And then I thought about it and realized she did not have any kids in her class that were African American.
I asked her for her bff’s name. She said: “Carly.”

I chuckled a bit and told her in the kindest way I could that Carly was not actually African American, she is Italian.

You see, Carly has been blessed with the most beautiful tan skin tone in the world.
(seriously jealous here)
Lindsay said, well I don’t care, I love her even if she looks different than Me.

Fast forward to present day.

Since then both the girls have changed schools and are exposed to many different ethnicities these days.
They both love it. They have friends of every color.
I love that they embrace everyone and don’t have preconceived notions about different cultures.
Although, I think they favor gay people over everyone else, but that is another post for another time.

This week Lindsay came home from school and said to me:

“I just realized today that Barack Obama is the first African American president. EVER.”

I had quite a surprised look on my face thinking that I had kept her under a rock for part of her life....
and I said “really?”

She said: “yes. I don’t want to sound stupid or mean at all, but I really thought that President Andrew Jackson was also of African American descent.“

I laughed so hard. That was the end of the discussion.

Today, as I was going about my day I pondered this again. I was wondering why she thought that Andrew Jackson could have been black.
The only thing I can come up with is the only folks she knows of with the last name Jackson is Michael and Janet.
I love Janet's music and I sing her quite well in the car....
Seeing Michael Jackson on TV always perplexed the kids.....

The resemblence is uncanny.