Yesterday my five year old daughter told me: “Dad, I don’t want to live in the sun in America because I don’t want to turn brown”.

Of course I asked her series of question to remove all doubt, and yes – my concerns were right. She thought that she would turn African-American by being in the sun.

I had no idea how to respond – should I tell her that; yes, she would turn African-American, but that is great… or should I tell her that there is no way that she will ever turn African-American… thereby potentially inducing racism.

Just to give a little inside information, there is an African-American girl in her class that is always teasing her – and for some unknown reason she “Pavlov’s” the teasing to her skin color.

My method was talking to her for 15 minutes, telling her that skin color is in no way related to behavior. I told her that the only thing that matters is if an individual is good. People of all color can be bad, and many caucasian individuals teased me in school… but that was in no way related to their skin color. I also told her that she should choose her friends based on how they behave, not the color of their skin. I even told her that I would be more than happy if her future boyfriend is African-American… the only thing that I am concerned about is if her boyfriend is good. (and yes – there is always the possibility that my daughter will choose a female partner, but I did not want to complicate the discussion).

I will continue to monitor her words and behavior, and try to find the root of her words… but perhaps we can change the world by monitoring our own behavior and influencing the people around us – one at a time.