An 8 year old is on the deck of a ship. She is on her way home with her parents, after two years away in a distant land. She sees a cute toddler close by and goes over to play. As she is about to reach out and touch the little one, a voice calls out, “Don’t let her touch you. She’s dirty.” Shocked and stung, the 8 year old looks towards the voice, and it is that of a girl about her own age. The girl continues, “Go away, don’t come near.” The girl and her sister are blond with white skin. The 8 year old has black hair and a brown skin.
Nearly 50 years later, that incident came to mind when asked at a conference to recall an event that had an indelible impact on my life. It came to mind again, when I read Hillary Clinton’s comments about hard working white people. What is the color of pain?