Racism by fear of racism.

Some year8 kids came to see me in my classroom at break time yesterday. They were really concerned for a new boy in their next lesson who is black. They had been watching Roots in their history lesson, and would be watching it again in their next lesson, and as they told me the 'N' word is used a lot. They thought he might be offended by it. I tried to reassure them. I suggested first of all that they discuss it with their teacher and perhaps she could have a little discussion about how people felt. Secondly I told them that I thought the boy would understand that it was not supposed to be offensive and that it is showing how people have behaved historically. They were not convinced so I suggested that they ask the opinion of my colleague Chris who is black. This was a brave step for me - usually any mention of race in front of Chris and I feel accutely embarrassed, silly really. The girls were enthusiastic about they idea and we went off to speak to Chris. I was so impressed with the girls because they put their point in such a mature manner, unperturbed by Chris's colour, and listened carefully to what he thought. He didn't believe that the boy would be offended for similar reasons to those I had put. I was so pleased that the problem had been resolved in this manner. I work in a predominantly white school in which a few years ago was often upset by the racist attitudes of some of the pupils. I was also pleased that I had tested myself and had managed to come through unscathed, that is without blood rushing to my cheeks. I worry sometimes that too often we are actually being racist by being afraid if mentioning the colour of a persons skin. Chris has the same surname as another teacher in this school. Myself like everyone else in the school refer to them as 'cooking Mr T' and 'art Mr T'. Never is Chris called 'black Mr T'. That would be the more obvious distinction but too often we fear being accused of racism just by mentioning the colour of a persons skin!