What Color Am I?

I am continuously awed by the mind of a child. My friend’s little boy, L, is starting to understand that people look different. He decided that he is brown and that my son is black. As L is about as White as you can be, I would love to know why his mind took him down this particular path. He doesn’t have the words yet to explain why he sees these colors when he looks at himself and my son.

Though I have a vague recollection of when I figured out I didn’t look like my friends, I don’t remember how I came to the realization or how I categorized people. I suspect that it comes a little earlier for children who have more than one race in their home. I have no facts to base that statement on, it would just seem logical that a child would care to notice family before friends.

The glorious part of the child’s brain is that L has noticed that there is a difference between him and my son, but he really doesn’t care beyond the need to make the observation.