Unbelievable

Emma and I spent the holidays in Finland visiting family and enjoying our Finnish traditions first hand.

At one point we had a serious conversation on the racial distribution of peoples around the globe as Emma struggled to find herself belonging to the Finnish sea of white faces.

A few days later, on a souvenier buying frenzy we went from store to store to find matching Finland shirts for her and her soulsister, Brianna. After several unsuccesful attempts...

Emma: Unbelievable! Unbelievable that there are no shirts that say 'I Love Finland' or 'Finland is the Best'!

Me: It sure is. You'd think people would like to let the whole world know how great Finland is.

Emma: That's what I was thinking!

After a few minutes of thinking...

Emma: I'm not sure how to say this, but are white people... are they not as smart as brown people?

Me: (not connecting the dots yet) Tell me more of what you're thinking?

Emma: Well, because the Finnish people have not thought to make shirts about Finland...

Me: I get it.. It makes you think they may not be that smart. I can see how you might think that!

We went on to discuss the absence of evidence for any particular concentrations of intelligence based on skin color.

However, her comment made me think -- I never realized how innocently prejudice can find its way to one's thinking. Emma was only trying to make her environment make sense and drew conclusions on her very real experiences. She's a child.

I would like to think that as we grow up and mature we will reconsider our childlike impressions of the world, but obviously that is often the missing step. Keep hope alive...

Who knew parenting also covers anthropology?