THE COLOR OF OUR CHILDREN'S SKIN

Last night...around midnight the phone rang...always a scary sound around here, but the call was actually anticipated and quickly answered. After months of anxiety and patience, we learned that my one and only nephew was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University. This young man has worked hard for a long time for this. He also received acceptance letters from several other prestigious institutions, but has been very interested and hopeful about CMU. He has excelled in more areas than I ever dreamed of, from tennis to baseball to singing and dancing in the school musicals. He's polite, funny, kind, and thoughtful as well. I don't worry that he'll have a good life.

When he turned sixteen and began to drive I worried a little bit more...I've watched too many news stories for too many years about teenagers killed on the road. I've told him many times that if he's ever in a car with someone who is doing anything dangerous to get out...call me anytime...from anywhere...and I'll come and get him. So as much as this promising young man has going for him, his uncle still keeps a vigilant eye on him, as do his parents and sister. He's really not a kid that needs to be watched like a hawk.

After the good news last night as I tried to go back to sleep, my thoughts drifted to those families who's phones also ring late at night... with horrible news. As the outrage continues over the killing of Travon Martin, and our own nightly news almost always reports another young person killed, I'm keenly aware of what a dangerous world this is for young black men in particular. How sad for the families with kids who are immediately deemed "suspicious" because of the color of their skin. If my nephew walks into a store in the evening he's looked at very differently than a black boy his age would be looked at in the same situation.

It's a whole different world for a young person if your skin is dark, but we all bleed the same blood, all hearts break with the same pain, and burying a child ruins many lives forever. I worry a bit when my nephew is out with his friends, but not when he's simply shopping or going to school. My friends of a different color don't have that same luxury. A trip to a convenience store for candy and an iced tea can prove deadly for young black kid. While life is about to begin for kids like ours, it all too frequently ends in a cemetery for so many countless others.