None of this should be true

I’m having an awesome conversation with a kid,

and then the little boy looks at me with a furrowed brow and says in a matter-of-fact way,

‘my nan hates white people’

And now, suddenly aware that in his eyes, I’m a white lady his nan hates,

And I say that’s ok, each to their own, but you’re an individual, you can make your own decisions, right?

he thinks about it for a second, and says ‘yeah’

before he walks away.

Maybe, in another place and time,

and by that I mean another suburb tomorrow,

this conversation takes a different turn,

where a little boy says,

‘my nan hates black people’

And a lady says why? Why does your nan hate black people? That’s racist.

And I’m white people now, I noticed that, but years ago I was not quite white enough,

Back before my hair turned from black to white, almost overnight it seemed,

And I would stay in the Sun all summer long, until my skin was dark brown,

And people called me names and spat on me until I cried.

Back then, I was not quite white people. I was wog people then.