I have been writing an essay all weekend. Corporations Law. It has been a hard slog this one, so hard I've been considering putting it up on my other blog as evidence of why I never post there. Anyway, that is not why I'm writing. Will took the kids out to a play centre this morning so I could study in peace, and they have just returned. The following ensued with Euey:

G: Where did you go?
E: *huge grin* chocolate ice cream!!

About 10 minutes passed while I discovered that after the play centre they went to the supermarket to get chocolate ice cream and I was not going to get any sense out of my son until he had eaten said ice cream. He ate some, then said 'I'm full' - which he tends to do, even if it's something really yummy, a habit we think is awesome for his future.

So, ice cream craving satisfied I tried again:

G: what did you do at the play centre?
E: I hurt a white boy ...
I look with amazement and try really hard not to display my shock as a laugh, before he continues ...
E: ... with a green t-shirt

Thank goodness I had talked to Will from the play centre and knew what this was all about, the conversation continued ...

G: why did you hurt him?
E: he was angry
G: who was he angry at?
E: me
Will interjects: no, Aoife
E: yeah, he angry at Aoife

I calmly explained that it was good of him to look after Aoife but next time he should just ask the boy to stop rather than hurting him. Will had explained pretty much the same thing at the play centre so hopefully it sunk in.

After talking to Will I got the full story. Euey and the boy a couple of years older were playing inside a netted enclosure and Aoife was on the outside trying to get in. The older boy put his hand through and poked Aoife. Will says Euey looked like he just saw red. He grabbed the boy by the shirt (with both hands) put on his best angry face and with the aid of momentum pushed him against the netting. Then growled "Don't touch my sister!" and walked purposefully towards Will.

Now as much as I hate the idea of dealing with difficult situations with violence instead of a few careful words, I was inordinately proud of my little boy for the courage he showed against an older and bigger boy. The 'white boy' comment on the other hand shocked the sh!t out of me. I know he has not learned from any one we know to differentiate between skin colours. I have heard / read so many times that kids don't notice skin colour until they are taught, but I beg to differ. Euey was using this a pure descriptor, much the same as the green t-shirt. There was nothing value laden in it. It made me think ... what if we, as a society, could overcome not only differential treatment on the basis of skin colour, but also the bullsh!t political correctness that has become so much of a part of our culture. What if we could find a middle ground where we didn't have to be afraid to mention skin colour / religion / race as descriptor of an individual's looks or characteristics without someone assuming we were generalising or saying something negative.

What if huh?

P.S. The 'plight', as it's referred to, of Aboriginal people in Australia is a topic I often find myself coming back to but never have enough time to write about. It is an area of Australian culture that is impossible to talk about without getting someone's back up, but which needs intense discussion to resolve. If I find myself with a spare hour or so I may post on this sometime (yeah, unlikely I kn ow, but hey, at least you know I'm thinking about it! :)