skin

When I was a kid, my older brother told me that black people were made that way on purpose. Like if you had a baby in the summer when you were tan, that baby would be born with a darker, sort of olive skin tone. And then when that baby grew up and had a kid, if it was in the summer and the mother was tan, that baby would be even darker, so of course if a darker-skinned person had a baby in the winter, the skin would be lighter.

Yup, I believed that a good portion of my life.

Me

One summer when I was about 6 my mom and I were sitting outside. She was wearing shorts and when she stood up I noticed she had a bunch of little dents on the back of her thighs (cellulite). I didn't know what they were so I asked, "Mama, were you sitting on rocks?" She told me she was, so for the longest time I thought the dents on people's legs were from sitting on rocks and they were only temporary! :)

Nicole, Colorado

When I was little, I had this thing where I believed if someone touched you, they could read your mind. I was terrified of people being able to read my mind, so I shied away and hated being touched.

... It still kind of affects me today. xD

Melissa

I thought that any white person who went to a hot country, like Jamaica, would automatically turn into a black person.

Giselle

When I was a kid I believed that black peoples butts were light skinned like the bottom of their hands and feet. I figured out the truth in 6th grade camp when I bunked in the den of the predominatly black school we went to camp with. For some reason those guys liked to moon eachother alot.

some dude

I used to think that "stretch marks" were those lines that you get on your tummy when your jeans are too tight.

I remember being about 8 and saying "Gosh mom, you sure have a lot of stretch marks on your stomach!" and getting slapped like 3 feet across the room.

ClashRocker

I used to believe that people were different colours depending on how long God backed them in the oven.

Miltysmom

I use to beleve that people who where black, was people who had been in the sun to much,so they get sunburn. That was why they where black.

elise

I used to think that everyone gets more freckles as they get older, and when they get all of their freckles, then they're black people. I thought that black people were people whose freckles had all come in!

Luke C.

I used to believe that black people were black because there's too much sun in Africa. I watched a Discovery Channel program on climate and they talked about how much hotter Africa is than the United States, so I figured everybody black, having roots in Africa, was sunburned, and it even passed down to their children. Whenever my mom pestered me about how much I needed sunblock at the beach, I didn't worry that much because I would just become a black person! When my mom kept insisting I wear sunblock, that made me think that my mom didn't like black people, or at least didn't want me to be black. I pretty much held this belief until my mom explained that the sun can give you cancer, and THEN I thought all black people had cancer! She eventually learned everything I believed and set everything straight. Thank goodness.

bear claw bill

I was raised as my mother was, believing that freckles were the result of flies landing on me. After switching schools to a catholic school, I shared my worldly freckle knowledge with a classmate. Not only was she completely disgusted, but proclaimed that I was enirely wrong. In fact, freckles are from angel's kisses.

Casey Dougherty

My mother is a South-African who emigrated to Europe before I was born. As a political activist she always referred to Blacks as "Africans." I was unfamiliar with the term black as a noun rather than an adjective.
When I was five we visited South Africa. On a trip at Kruger Park I encountered a washing area that had a sign that said "Nie vir swartes nie" ("Not for black people"). I assumed that it meant that the washing area was forbidden for people who were, like me, black from playing in the dirt, and was consumed with the thought that I would be arrested for washing there. I also wondered how they expected me to become pink again if I wasn't allowed to wash, and where the washing area for dirty kids was, and whether I would be expelled from the country for putting my muddy feet in the basin.
When my father and mother explained about Apartheid and the meaning of that sign I cried in righteous indignation for hours.

Sanne

when i was 4 or so i used to think that whenever my mamaw would pull on her panty hose it was her actual skin and i would start screamin my head off!!!

pantyhose girl

I used to believe that if white people would turn brown in the sun then brown people would turn white.

Anon

I used to belief that 'black people' were made of chocolate.

Anon

I came from a small town consisitng of all white people. When I was younger I thought ALL black people were related to each other.

Lisa

Black men were actually roasted

Ant

My parents used to tell me my birthmark on my stomach was a part of me. I used to believe that was the actual name of the spot on my skin. When I was asked at school what that spot was on my stomach I just said "It's a part of me!"

Memphis

When I was a little kid, I was afraid of band-aids because I thought they would tear my skin off.

Sarah Libby