Chapter 1
The blue eye, white cheek pretty baby knows nothing about the hostility and discrimination embedded in the hidden corners of society’s disguised values. She is innocent, oh yes totally innocent of the flying prejudices that dart again and again at the gray matter of the privileged human brain.
Once there, they multiply into ferocious, brutal armies that are ready and alert to tear the seams of a society that barely flickers a flame of hope for the disadvantaged, poor and elderly. The little, unblemished female angel flapped her wings across her face and covered her eyes. She was convinced that the love, care and personal attention she receives from a distant stranger is enough to dilute racial confident tension and nibble at the social dilemma that is so evident in the adult population.
She was confident that the care and the attention she gets from the foreign nanny is genuine and lasting, and possesses the power to displace racial disharmony, eradicate financial disparities or turn back the scale of social injustice that separates the rich from the poor. In her own disillusioned world she dangles the keys that open the doors to a better world; a world where discrimination and social division do not exist. In her innocence, Kathy dreams of a love that is somewhat unconventional and darn right contrary to the tainted love that is bosomed by the most dignified and wealthy people in a country which was founded on the awesome values of liberty and freedom and the equality of life for all.
Her guiltless eyes are just too young and pure to properly evaluate the differences between mummy’s care and the nanny’s care; to her there is no difference between the two as long as the treatment that is dished out to her is loving and kind and timely. Without fear or malice she automatically stretches her soft, tender hands to greet the outstretched alien hands that provide her with the basic necessities for her development.
She stares at the foreign face and examines her large, brown eyes that glitter brilliantly with love and hope; she sees bands of white teeth and a lingering smile that was manufactured in the dark woman’s heart and oozed to a lovely waiting face designed with thick parting lips. Politely and unassumingly Kathy sneered at the hazy room and turned her back on the racial divide that hangs provocatively from the ceiling and walls that defined her immediate space.
In disgust Kathy ignored conventional wisdom and touched and grabbed the dark fingers that respectfully and lovingly held the bottle of milk before her glossy, crystal eyes. To her, the color of the hands or the shape of the face or the length of the hair does not matter one bit as long as she gets good treatment and her food on time. How great! Kathy, the little white baby was born into wealth and is already rich at the age of twelve months. She would stare directly at the foreign face and smile lovingly at the piercing dark brown eyes that are stuck between the cheekbones on the black face standing over the beautifully, decorated crib.
There, at that frozen moment in time the differences in their cultures temporarily vanished while the two folks engaged in conversation and laughter using the universal langue of baby talk. Emma the nanny and Kathy held a friendly dialogue and approved a friendly, lasting relationship without the influence of a third party. Without the influence from her parents or without conforming to society’s unpredictable values, Kathy feels nonthreatening and very comfortable with the love and care she gets from her second mommy, a black undocumented immigrant from the Caribbean.
At this point in her life her innocence is wrapped tightly within her soul and bears no malice at the tender age of twelve months. At that age Kathy is still an unblemished angel that is couched away from the many concepts, historical data and ideologies that stand like thieves at the entrance of her heart waiting to snatch her away from her innate, flawless values she presently holds. Without looking over her shoulder to see who is watching her, or without conceiving the thought that she is doing something she does not honestly believe in, she romantically hugs the black nanny and kisses her dark face as though there was no discrimination between the races or discrimination in the division of labor. Yes, Kathy was born without a trace of discrimination and without a litter of hatred flowing through her tender, unclogged veins.
She conducted her day-to-day activities as though she was color-blind and unaware of the adult realities that flow in and out her bedroom windows. Children, yes little children, the descendants of the rich and the poor, the descendants of black and white or the descendants of other immigrant families convey true, uninterruptible love naturally. In their silence they speak volumes of unbiased and untainted words, which do not harm anyone and which glue our nation together momentarily in the hope that one day the innocent idealism of the babies would strangle and destroy the reckless behaviors of good children that became questionable adults.
The story goes on....
Excerpts from Changing the Guards from the book, "Do you make a difference, Do you?" by John T. Rodriguez
Once there, they multiply into ferocious, brutal armies that are ready and alert to tear the seams of a society that barely flickers a flame of hope for the disadvantaged, poor and elderly. The little, unblemished female angel flapped her wings across her face and covered her eyes. She was convinced that the love, care and personal attention she receives from a distant stranger is enough to dilute racial confident tension and nibble at the social dilemma that is so evident in the adult population.
She was confident that the care and the attention she gets from the foreign nanny is genuine and lasting, and possesses the power to displace racial disharmony, eradicate financial disparities or turn back the scale of social injustice that separates the rich from the poor. In her own disillusioned world she dangles the keys that open the doors to a better world; a world where discrimination and social division do not exist. In her innocence, Kathy dreams of a love that is somewhat unconventional and darn right contrary to the tainted love that is bosomed by the most dignified and wealthy people in a country which was founded on the awesome values of liberty and freedom and the equality of life for all.
Her guiltless eyes are just too young and pure to properly evaluate the differences between mummy’s care and the nanny’s care; to her there is no difference between the two as long as the treatment that is dished out to her is loving and kind and timely. Without fear or malice she automatically stretches her soft, tender hands to greet the outstretched alien hands that provide her with the basic necessities for her development.
She stares at the foreign face and examines her large, brown eyes that glitter brilliantly with love and hope; she sees bands of white teeth and a lingering smile that was manufactured in the dark woman’s heart and oozed to a lovely waiting face designed with thick parting lips. Politely and unassumingly Kathy sneered at the hazy room and turned her back on the racial divide that hangs provocatively from the ceiling and walls that defined her immediate space.
In disgust Kathy ignored conventional wisdom and touched and grabbed the dark fingers that respectfully and lovingly held the bottle of milk before her glossy, crystal eyes. To her, the color of the hands or the shape of the face or the length of the hair does not matter one bit as long as she gets good treatment and her food on time. How great! Kathy, the little white baby was born into wealth and is already rich at the age of twelve months. She would stare directly at the foreign face and smile lovingly at the piercing dark brown eyes that are stuck between the cheekbones on the black face standing over the beautifully, decorated crib.
There, at that frozen moment in time the differences in their cultures temporarily vanished while the two folks engaged in conversation and laughter using the universal langue of baby talk. Emma the nanny and Kathy held a friendly dialogue and approved a friendly, lasting relationship without the influence of a third party. Without the influence from her parents or without conforming to society’s unpredictable values, Kathy feels nonthreatening and very comfortable with the love and care she gets from her second mommy, a black undocumented immigrant from the Caribbean.
At this point in her life her innocence is wrapped tightly within her soul and bears no malice at the tender age of twelve months. At that age Kathy is still an unblemished angel that is couched away from the many concepts, historical data and ideologies that stand like thieves at the entrance of her heart waiting to snatch her away from her innate, flawless values she presently holds. Without looking over her shoulder to see who is watching her, or without conceiving the thought that she is doing something she does not honestly believe in, she romantically hugs the black nanny and kisses her dark face as though there was no discrimination between the races or discrimination in the division of labor. Yes, Kathy was born without a trace of discrimination and without a litter of hatred flowing through her tender, unclogged veins.
She conducted her day-to-day activities as though she was color-blind and unaware of the adult realities that flow in and out her bedroom windows. Children, yes little children, the descendants of the rich and the poor, the descendants of black and white or the descendants of other immigrant families convey true, uninterruptible love naturally. In their silence they speak volumes of unbiased and untainted words, which do not harm anyone and which glue our nation together momentarily in the hope that one day the innocent idealism of the babies would strangle and destroy the reckless behaviors of good children that became questionable adults.
The story goes on....
Excerpts from Changing the Guards from the book, "Do you make a difference, Do you?" by John T. Rodriguez
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