Romeo & Juliet: First Grade Edition

My 7 year old daughter burst into the door yesterday announcing: "Mom!  I've found the boy that I am going to marry!" 

When I was little, I remember always being "boy crazy".  I never thought boys had cooties, I always had crushes, I have had boyfriends since the third grade.  But I don't ever recall planning my wedding out in intricate detail and picking husbands as my daughter does.

My daughter's new beau is a little black boy named Day-twan (sorry, I don't know how to spell it, and I WOULD say African American boy, but I have been informed that is not PC, because darker skinned people come from several countries.)  In fact, I wouldn't even point out his race if it weren't relevant to the story.  Read on.

So some little girls my daughter play with outside (who also happen to be black) brought their cousin over yesterday, and that was it for Teagan.  She was in love at first sight, and the two of them promised eachother to marry when they were grown up.  The only problems were their cousins, and my 4 year old son.  For whatever reason, Johnny (my son) didn't approve of the situation, and shrieked repeatedly "NO!  YOU CANNOT MARRY HIM UNTIL YOU GROW UP!  Stop talking about it!"  As for Dayton's cousins, they disagreed with the arrangement considerably as well. 

"She's a white girl.  You can't marry her!"  and "What would your mama say if you married her?"

These outbursts literally brought my daughter to tears when her object of affection finally gave in to the peer pressure and it was decided that it would be best if they didn't marry.  But apparently, he whispered in her ear that he would be back to visit her next Sunday, secretly.  Forbidden love.  Sometimes, there is nothing so toxic yet so sweet simultaneously. 

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Social commentary:  It's sad that racism starts so young.  Racism does not exist solely as white people discriminating against other races.  I experienced this personally when I attended high school in Albuquerque, New Mexico as, believe it or not, a minority (being a white person amongst mostly Hispanics).  I experienced racism against myself many times.  And the fact that the tendancies are being ingrained by parents into their children so early on...with 7 year olds...well, it really pisses me off.