This is what we heard at Wannsee over the weekend while we were making sand cakes. My sons looked up at the sky as if the voice was what they'd imagined the sound of God to be like. It was actually the cranky voice of an announcer who had already called the names of other children who had lost track of their parents in the crowd of sunbathers.
Most people laughed at this announcement. I struggled to put a grin across my face so my children wouldn't sense my annoyance. My husband looked right at me, expecting me to say something, a Current between Shores-like commentary about the mini incident. I did not. I sucked at in and let it rest until responding to a comment on the last post.
This morning, I understand why it bothered me.
Why did the announcer say the names of the other children on the loud speaker and with the black boy say "a colored boy"? Why did he not announce that boy's name?
Later, when we took our sons back to the car, a teenager looked at my kids and asked me, "Was one of them the colored boy that was lost?"
"No," I said, sarcastically. "It was another colored boy."
4 comments:
Maybe the colored boy could not tell his name.
shoot I remember when I got lost in the store as a little one and was crying my eyes out. The white girl that had to go on the speaker even asked me my name. My mom felt humiliated by that lol. (what parent wouldn't?)
I guess the incident you talked about is just one of the many ways racism in Europe is very different than in the US.
That or that guy just seriously lacked an common sense and respect for others.
@Maya, It's possible that he was too upset to say his name. Maybe.
Living in Berlin and not being Aryan is a challenge. What would the announcer have said if one of the other kids was too upset to say their name?
On the other hand, the announcer probably thought "there aren't too many black kids here. If yours is missing come get it!" Just a little reminder that you're not the norm. None of this would bother me that much if my kids weren't Black AND Geman.
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