Ana Molero-Pullin
Lake Worth, FL

I am originally from Venezuela. My husband is African-American. He always says he doesn’t know where he is from. Before we got married, he showed me an article that was called something like “how is like to be married with a black man in America” and I told him I didn’t want to read it because I did not care about it. I have never paid attention to the color of your skin or how much you have in your bank account. Now, I wished I would have read it. Had I done so, maybe it would not be surprising when we are out in a mall or anywhere and people look at us like something out of the world. We went to a restaurant once, and the greeter only talked to me. I guess my husband blended in with the darkness of the night and she could not see him, right? It would not be surprising (and insulting most of the time) when someone asks out of the blue “is “that” your husband?” This last one really gets under my skin because it makes me feel
that the color of our skin (the color that God gave us… Did I write “GOD”?) determines rather we are a human being or just a “thing.” And I know “that” can also be used to indicate a person. I did go to school. What bothers me is the tone used to say “that.” Anyways, I could keep going, not only because I think “racism” is a very interesting topic, but because it is not only about the color of our skin. It is very sad that we go to school, college, university… It is sad that we earn B.A.’s, Masters, Ph.D’s but yet we have not earned the most important “title” of all… Being HUMANS. I don’t know if one day we all can really accept the fact that we are all God’s children and “that” makes US ALL brothers and sisters who live under the same roof “a huge and beautiful sky.” Will this ever happen? I don’t know. I pray that God gives me the right tools to “educate” my kids in a way that this problem I call “ignorance” never becomes a problem to/for them.
And this I do know. I don’t want my kids to be “ignorant.” I have three beautiful kids that I want to raise to be HUMAN before anything else. I want them to be kind to everyone they come across in life despite their color, financial status or any other condition. I want them to understand that the color of our skin is just a color. That we will only be one color when our bodies turn into ashes. Then, it will be too late for us to start making any kind of changes in our lives… What really and truly matters is who we are inside. That is really all that matters. God bless you all.