Dilon Bhana

South Africa

My Grey Skin

Nobody ever told me that when you walk around with your eyes closed, it’s easier to see people. An intonation of their voice or a whiff of their accent. Their language might take you back a generation or two, but you will not be able to categorize a person by the faults of their ancestry.

Walking around with my eyes wide open, it was clear to me that the world around me existed in black and white. Looking down at my gray skin, dressed in sparkling sarees and fed by spices carrying the heat of the sun, I understood that I didn’t fit into the black and white world.

The day that I thought to close my eyes was the same day that somebody asked me, “do you consider yourself black or white?” Astounded, I looked down at my gray skin that was so easily overlooked. I didn’t want to see the black and white world anymore, so in frustration, I closed my eyes.

I smiled as the world suddenly came to me in all its magnificence. I took the hand of my questioner and urged her to close her eyes. “Do you see all the colors of the world?”