Game Over

It’s true. Kids don’t pay attention to race until it’s pointed out.

The time had come. I was leaving Elementary heading to Jr. High! 6th grade was finally over! Our teachers had planned a weeks worth of activities to celebrate the occasion.

All four classes got together and our teachers explained the rules to a game we were going to play.

Teacher “okay kids! We are going to play name that baby! All of your parents have submitted a baby picture of you. We are going to flash each of the pictures behind us on the overhead screen. When you know the answer just yell it out!”

Sounds fun…. Right?

One by one pictures where shown on the screen and my peers and I got to guessing.

All “ That's Julie!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Teacher “Is that you Julie?”

Julie “Not Me!”

And then the class would try again and again. Some were easy… others were hard… but for the most part you really had to examine your friends.

Then my pic goes up…… the only black kid in the WHOLE 4-6th Grades.

Most of the kids yelled “JESSICA WILSON!” (there were like 10 other Jessicas so last names were in order… but it was not necessary to use it at this moment)

The rest of the kids “ZUBIN” (the Arab kid)

And there you have it. This game was no longer fun, but drew even more attention to how different I was. I shot my teacher some serious side-eye for this one.

Teacher (sort of laughing) “Well, majority guessed Jessica Wilson… is it you Jessica?”

Me (wanting to slap her) “Yes, it’s me.”

That night I went home and told my parents about the wack and racially insensitive game we played.

Mom (laughing) “I picked out a picture from when you were just born… seeing that you had Jaundice you were a little lighter. I thought that would trick your classmates.”

(Jaundice is not a disease but rather a sign that can occur in many different diseases. Jaundice is the yellowish staining of the skin and sclerae (the whites of the eyes) that is caused by high levels in blood of the chemical bilirubin. The color of the skin and sclerae vary depending on the level of bilirubin. When the bilirubin level is mildly elevated, they are yellowish).

Me (upset) “Yeah mom! SOME THOUGHT I WAS ZUBIN!”

Mom “The Arab kid with the bifocals?”

Me “That would be him….”

My parents got a hardy laugh out of that one! Looking back at it… that was really funny. Racial profiled in the 6th grade… now that’s a HOTT MESS!