The DU Lounge
In reply to the discussion: Things that made you a liberal [View all]cannabis_flower
(3,764 posts)I was about to go to Catholic kindergarten in Victoria, Texas.
My grandpa (from Alabama) and my dad told me not to hold hands with any black kids. I had never met any black kids and as a child I wanted to obey my parents.
The very first week we went out into into a courtyard area and were going to play ring-around-the-roses. I ended up standing right next to the only black kid in the kindergarten. I wouldn't hold hands with her, not because I was prejudiced but because my dad and grandpa had told me not to.
The sister was very upset. She took me to the office and called my mother. She told me to hold hands with her, that my dad and grandpa were only kidding. (Not sure if they were.). I went back and held hands with her. Later my mom used the word that she usually used in this situation. She was "mortified".
I'm pretty sure this was the exact moment that I learned not to always do what my parents said.