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Brown Skin: Confessions of Being the "Only"

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From the window of a tiny light blue house that sat on stilts was a pair of eyes staring right back at me. This caused me to pull a complete circle in the street and to my surprise I noticed that there were several people who were just observing our group. There was something in the way that they didn’t even try to hide the fact that they were looking at me as if it wasn’t anything to be sorry about. Growing up with a classic American mother I was constantly being told that it was rude to stare at people because it made them uncomfortable. It’s easy to see why staring is usually a sign of odd behavior that typically conflicts with accepted social norms. This gawking is usually accompanied with several judgments that are drawn from the individual’s brief observations. In Belize the feeling wasn’t disturbing in the least, I was well aware that I was being watched but it didn’t seem to bother me in the same way as it did back home. The Belizeans staring seemed more about being naturally curious about us as visitors to their country. It was funny to think that I was the strange oddity that was being watched. It was the first time in my life that I was the only one of my race in the area and to be honest it felt weird. The funny thing is that Belize is sort of a melting pot of various different racial identities there are Africans, Mayans, and Caribbean people or Carribs. Everyone was various shades of brown and to an unassuming looker seemed the same each complete with various shades of brown. Being what my friends have called ghostly pale I stuck out like a sore thumb. This was the first time that I a middle class boy from Maine really started to think about what it means to be white or Caucasian. I started to imagine how so many people of color can stand this feeling of standing out in our dominantly white school. I mean I was uncomfortable but this only had to last for a week I couldn’t imagine living my life constantly being looked at and examined for differences an

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What a great example of role reversal. Though you would probably not stare at those of who are different I'm sure growing up in maine you know people who would (I know i just made a huge generalization!). When first reading your story i felt particularly close to it because i grew up being one of the only jewish kids in a neighborhood. The song you added helped me to identify a lot more with your story.
aalbert 05401, January 10
I felt like that a lot when I first came to Burlington. I'd walk around campus and see an Asian and think to myself, oh there's number 4. It was the first time that I really felt like a minority. It was a very transitional time in my life especially since I came from a high school that was about 1/4 black, 1/2 asian, and 1/4 white.
lolauvm ny,ny, ny, January 10
Hi Ricky-- would you also give us info on the artist/song?
janicep Ferrisburg, VT, January 10
Hi Ricky-- would you also give us info on the artist/song?
janicep Ferrisburg, VT, January 10
For anyone who is interested in this song above its called:
Brown Skin by India Arie
RickyMartinJr (Ricky Martin) 05405, January 12

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