On our way to school, my daughter was telling me about a teacher at her school and when she mentioned her name (we’ll call her Mrs. C.), I realized that there was a man at her school with the same last name. This following conversation proceeded:
Me: Are Mrs. C. and Mr. C. were related?
Her: I don’t think so.
Me: Why not? They have the same last name.
Her: Well, Mrs. C. is brown and Mr. C. is pink.
Me: Oh, okay.
Now, I have gone out of my way to keep her from using the societal labels of black or white, so everyone is either pink or some shade of brown. I was glad to see that her impressionable mind still hadn’t been tainted, but I also wanted her to know that people within the same family can be different shades; heck, even different colors.
So, the conversation ended like this:
Me: It doesn’t matter if they are different colors. They can still be family.
Her: WHAT!
Me: Yup. They can be brother and sister, cousins, or husband and wife.
Her: I don’t think they’re married.
Me: thinking *I’m not going to go there right now* Okay, well maybe they’re related in some other way.
Her: Maybe you’re right. I’m going to ask them today.
*sigh* I guess at some point I’m going to have a more in depth conversation with her about race. But until then, brown Mrs. C and pink Mr. C will have to do 
At what age do you think it is appropriate to explain American race relations to children?
