My daughter the homegirl

M is attending a Baltimore City YMCA camp this summer. It's a standard day camp, with lots of your typical arts & crafts, outdoor play, and time spent flapping around wildly in the facility's pool. After some initial reservations about being away from Mommy, she's been enjoying it quite a bit. But the truly interesting thing about it, at least to me, is that of her age group -- a gaggle of about 25 preschool-age campers dubbed The Buccaneers (and how cute is THAT?) -- she's maybe one of two white kids.

The camp is overwhelmingly African American in every age group (as is Baltimore City), and from where I sit it's kind of an amazing experience for her to have -- to BE the racial minority, to know first-hand what that's like, albeit in a very controlled circumstance/environment. I haven't talked with her too much about that part of her experience, and am just allowing her to roll with it for the most part, which she seems to be doing on her own just fine without my meddling. Her best friend is a mixed-race kid, and I don't get the sense that she really pays too much attention to matters of race at this point overall.

And the kids at camp appear to be treating her fine and accepting her. If anything, I get the sense that they're enjoying her novelty. When I go to pick her up in the afternoon, the cluster of 4 or 5 little black girls that M rolls with inspect me as though I'd just entered the atmosphere, having traveled a great distance to Earth from Planet Cracker in the Whitey Galaxy. "HI!" they holler to me as I approach, a discernible lilt in their voices that suggests a mixture of surprise and genuine curiosity.

Anyway, the other day Jamie and I were sitting on the couch getting our Wimbledon on, when M started softly chanting a schoolyard rhyme I'd never heard before -- one involving living with boyfriends and shooting dice, it just so happens. Turns out she's been gettin' schooled by her friends at camp in some pretty awesome childhood verses. In the following video, M and her best buddy demonstrate two:

She clearly hasn't got the actual clapping parts down yet, but I'm guessing that'll come with time and practice. All in good time, my friends, all in good time.

Comments

[Skyzi]

At the daycare that my daughter went to (during our brief stint in AL) she was known as the white girl and I was the white girls momma.

[Robin]

My 8 year old son, who is as flour white as they get and sports complete towhead appeal (his eyelashes are white!) goes to a YMCA camp as well...fun stuff and most definitely a place of diversity depending on where you live! His best friend in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD (as they have told me for the past 6 years)is mixed. He never really paid attention to his color. Kids....wish more people were like them!

[foodmomiac]

Interestingly, the second one is also popular at Dylie's camp (a jewish camp with 98% white girls). Lots of police action these days. :-)

My favorite rhyme that she sings, though, is "ABC Hit it. That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it, uh huh, uh huh. You got your way, I got my way. Peace, punch, cap'n crunch. Brick wall, waterfall. Girl you think you got it all. But you don't. I do. So poof with your attitude. Word."

Her elementary school is very diverse, and we love it. In addition to diversity of race, there is also a BIG diversity of income, which is incredibly valuable as well.

[KimAZ]

The Mexixo one is killin' me! I was the token white girl on the cheer line in high school and my homegirls had to actually take my hips in their hands to help me achieve the proper booty shake. M will never have this problem.

[Maria]

This is just about the bestest thing I've ever seen ever.

When I was elementary school, my area was still doing mandatory busing. So I was one of a small handful of white kids in my class. I don't remember it ever feeling weird to me.

In about 5th grade the racial divide started to creep up. It makes me wonder what it is about hitting that age that makes kids start acting like dicks.

[that girl]

Too funny.

[Kimmie]

This is the CUTEST video. I still remember being teased with the "Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these..." rhyme!

[The Muse]

The first one is a similar rhyme to one I learned in 3rd grade on the playground, except we stopped before the line about the "chicken."

I also went to a fairly racially diverse school system (not just a black/white diversity, either), so I never really noticed the differences between kids.

[Suzy Q]

Wait 'til they teach her about hunchin'.

[Black Hockey Jesus]

This post offers the commenter 10 billion ways to get him or herself into big trouble.

I abstain.

[sweetney]

I'm disappointed in you, BHJ -- turning down an opportunity to get in trouble. a sign of the apocalypse? PERHAPS.

[Nothing But Bonfires]

Oh my gosh, I hope this doesn't sound creepy, but the sound of little girls laughing is the best thing in the world. Wait. That DID sound a little creepy. I really didn't mean it to; I'd just like to laugh like I was seven again. You know, randomly and spontaneously and uncontrollably. At crazy stuff.

[Rock and Roll Mama]

That is so cute, and I love how at that age they just kind of play together. At my 11 yr old's camp, it's all very diverse...the other day, some kids prank called the police from a pay phone. When I picked J up that afternoon, a very caucasian kid was yelling to his dad, "The COPS came today, Dad! The PoPo were here!" and I had to roll on the ground laughing.

[Diane]

That is about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

[Kelley]

At my high school I was the only 'Skippy the bush kangaroo' (white, Australian parents) in the whole year level. Everyone else was either Greek or Vietnamese.

Then I moved to the whitest country town in the world where most of the kids had never seen someone of Asian decent in their lives.

I missed being different.

[Shamelessly Sassy]

My daughter recently came home from hanging out with other 3 year olds at the park singing the following lyric repeatedly,
'OH yeah, I CAN WORK IT! Oh Yeah, I can work it!'
I'm rather confused about what she is 'working'.

[Susan]

That is so cute. It brought a big smile to my face. I hope your girl always stays color blind.

[Assertagirl]

OMG the FUN. When was the last time I had that much fun? Kids are awesome, and M's friend's hair is awesome, too.

[Anissa @ Hope4Peyton]

Your little girl is absolutely adorable. As my kids are the only mixed-Asian kids in a private school, they are their own oddity. But the funny thing is when my son came home and asked "what do they want to know when they ask 'what are you'?" I explained and he was all "that matters how?"

I LOVE it before kids get any ideas worked into them that it's supposed to MATTER somehow.

--www.hope4peyton.org

[Cara]

When I moved to Baltimore from Kansas (I know, I know) which as you can imagine is not very ethnically diverse, I found myself in a bit of a culture shock. All of a sudden, I was the minority. Basically, the whole town was my YMCA. It gave me a whole new perspective on race. I didn't learn any fun rhymes, though.