Shayla and Skyla got ready for school that morning the same way they did every other morning.  There was a little whining, constant yawning, and the occasional morning brawl.  They were sisters.  These behaviors were expected.  They were only two years apart which seemed to embellish and diminish their loving relationship.  Shayla was only in kindergarten and Skyla was in second grade.  With one simple incident their lives changed instantly.  Their innocence was stolen.

Headed into the cafeteria for breakfast Shayla always stuck close to her older sister.  She was not shy or scared, she just found more comfort being with her sister.  The girls even liked to wear matching outfits or coordinating colors to school.  Shayla held onto her the straps of her backpack as Skyla held onto her sister.

Skyla stood tall and thin in front of Shayla.  Her sandy blonde hair was braided down the middle of her back.  Her skin was pale.  She was one of those girls that will probably get freckles when she’s older.  Skyla’s big eyes were bright blue and curious.  Her lips were thin pink lines hiding a mouth of overgrown teeth.  She was a confident little girl.  Most would even say she was a social butterfly.

Shayla was short and stalky.  Some would call her muscular or athletically shaped.  Her dark brown hair was French braided in pig tails down to her waist.  Her skin was the color of rich milk chocolate, her eyebrows were dark and thick, and she had long dark eyelashes.  She had the kind of eye lashes people pay for.  Her brown round eyes blended with her wide nose and plump lips.  Shayla was equally confident but not nearly as social.

With their breakfast trays in hand the girls made their way to their usual table.   The same table that Skyla sat at since she was in kindergarten.  At the table, four dark skinned black girls were eating breakfast and laughing.  Shayla and Skyla joined them.  Laughter stopped.

Suddenly the silence was broken when one of the girls, Jordyn, a fourth grader, decided to advocate for the group.

Jordyn said “Sorry, you can’t sit here.”

Skyla stopped opening Shayla’s milk to look up at the girls staring at her.  “We’re already sitting here. Sorry.”

“I don’t think you understand me.  See YOU can’t sit here.” Jordyn giggled to her friends.

“Whatever.” Skyla turned to help her sister again.  “Hurry up and eat Shayla.”

“Typical white girl response. ‘Whatever’.  That’s why you can’t sit with us.”

“What does that mean?”

Feeling the tensions rising Shayla kept her eyes fixed on her tray while stuffing food into her mouth.

Jordyn’s face got serious. “It means that you are white.  We are all black girls.  We don’t want you at our table.”

“We’re just trying to eat breakfast, no one is bothering you.  It doesn’t matter where we sit.”

The other girls looked to Jordyn as some type of hero that was being challenged.

Jordyn spoke slowly, “She is black.  She can stay.  You are white.  You have to go sit with the white girls.”

Skyla spoke calmly, “We are sisters.  We are mixed.  We have the same white mother and the same black father.  God just made us look different.  I look like my mom and she looks like my dad.  I am black. And I am white. And so is she.”

Jordyn stood up.  Not intimidated, Skyla followed.  Jordyn pushed her chest against Skyla’s, yelling and spitting with Shayla crouched in the middle of the two.  “You are not black! You are white! Look at your hair! And your eyes! Now you think it’s cool to pretend to be black?  There is no mixed.  You are either black or white.  We had to be slaves because of white people like you!”

Jordyn pushed Skyla with all her force.  Stepping two steps back Skyla shoved Jordyn back.

“Are you alright?” Skyla asked Shayla.  Grabbing her hand she pulled her to her feet as Shayla nodded.  The girls turned away to find another table.

Jordyn regained her strength through anger and embarrassment.  She tugged hard on the small girls backpack bringing Shayla to a halt.  Skyla tried to keep walking but her sister’s hand was gripping her hard.  When she turned around she saw Jordyn holding Shayla’s backpack and the straps getting tighter on her arms.

“Let her go!” Skyla screamed.

“I said you can go.  She can stay.”

“She doesn’t want to stay with y’all.  She wants to go with me. Let my sister go!”

Internally Skyla went over what she should do within seconds.  She could avoid all the drama and just walk away and leave her sister there.  But she would never leave her sister to a pack of wolves to tear her apart. But she knew the reality was they wouldn’t tear her apart.  Eventually she would have been the most popular of the girls because she was mixed and looked black but had long hair and eyelashes.  Plus, she was bound to have an athletic body and she was smart.  She could handle her own.  This may have been her only chance to be one of the popular girls, black or white.  Skyla considered forcing Shayla to stay there to reap the benefits that she would never have.  Then she thought about what she felt was right and wrong.  She thought about how she would feel leaving her sister behind even if what was better for Shayla was worse for Skyla.

In second grade Skyla was forced to identify, categorize, and justify her and her sister’s racial identity.  Shayla had to witness, in kindergarten, the way she was seen versus the way her sister was seen.  Confused and scared, Shayla was forced into the category of black racial identity before she could write her full name.

At that moment a tear dropped from her dark eyes and ran down the outside of Shayla’s round cheek.  She was afraid.  Humanity slapped Skyla hard.  She punched Jordyn one time in the mouth.  She grabbed Shayla and pulled her to shelter her under her arms.

“You’re scaring my sister.  I told you to let her go!” Skyla screamed. “You prejudice bitch!”

By that time many teachers were rushing to the scene of a tiny white face second grader coddling her sister in kindergarten and a fourth grader holding her bleeding mouth while her friends sat in awe. Both girls were escorted to the office for fighting.  One of Jordyn‘s friends whispered that Skyla hit like a black girl.  Shayla held onto Skyla for life and refused to go to class.

When they got to the office Skyla knew she could simply say that Jordyn started it and everyone would believe her.  She wouldn’t have to do much explaining.  She was a good kid that was never in trouble.  Jordyn was known to make problems.  What she did not understand was that she held a white privilege of passing.  People didn’t know she was mixed.  Jordyn would never have that privilege.

The counselors came to talk to Skyla.  She did not use her unknown privilege.  She did not say it was not her fault and she did not play victim.  She told them exactly what happened.  After scolding her for not getting an adult to diffuse to situation, Skyla was suspended for three days.

As the Shayla and Skyla sat in the office waiting for their mother to pick them up Shayla starred at her sister.  Skyla knew she was comparing herself to her sister.  She looked at her hair, eyes, and skin.

“Why do they think I am black?”

“Because you are.” Skyla answered feeling defeated.  “And I am not.”

After a moment of silence Shayla spoke softly, “I love you.”

“I love you more.”