(inane musings on daily life)

One of my Oromo students today schooled me about how “white people” can have boyfriends and “Oromo people” cannot. She also said “Miss Kate, you got married.” And when I asked why she thought that, she said “Because you have a boyfriend and he likes you a lot. So you got married.” I told her “No, I don’t have a boyfriend” and her response was “Yes you do, you’re white. You have a boyfriend. You can pray together. But not like I pray.”

Now, don’t go getting all pissy that she’s learning racist values. She is four years old. She is just making generalizations that she can understand. As she grows and matures and learns more, she will understand that it’s not about the skin color.

I just happened to think the entire situation was absolutely adorable. She just assumed that, because she is around the American culture which differs from the culture she experiences daily in her home, she has learned these things that her parents have probably explained to her, and the easiest way to explain it to a 4 year old is to say “white people” vs “Oromo people.”

Plus it was adorable that she assumed I have a boyfriend and that he loves me and so we got married.

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