skin

I used to believe that black people we're made out of chocolate.

Anon

I was born in Asia, and until I came to the U.S., I thought black people were make-believe.

Anon

my cousin (18) told her sister (5) that if she got tan she would have to change her name to Fatima. so she avoided the sun almost all summer

Kjell

I used to believe that if I tapped on my nose and cheeks enough that freckles would eventually pop up. I always wanted freckles as a kid.

Natasha H

When I was in year 1 they told us that people came in different colours because god had made us all out of clay but had left some of us in the oven longer. HMMMMMMM not exactly P.C
Then when i went home and informed my mum of my new found wisdom she called and complained :)

Alee

When I was little I heard about moles, the mammal, and became convinced that the moles on people's skin were actually the tip of burrowed mole's tails poking up. I had no clue how they got into your skin, but I became very scared of them.

Joe

Growing up in Calgary, Canada, it was a rare occasion for me to see a coloured person. When I was quite young I saw a black man walking down the street. I remarked to my father that "he must be REALLY old!" when he asked why I would think that, I explained that people's skin must become darker as people age. It seemed perfectly logical at the time.

Dan M.

When I was little, I asked my mother why some people were dark brown while I was sort of pink. She said it was because they had something in their skin (like what makes us tan) that made them darker. I was very surprised in the my school's locker room to find that my classmates were brown all over and not sporting a dramatic tan line.

Laurie

I used to wash my wrists furiously thinking that the blue viens were from a marker.

Bren

I'm white. I used to believe that since my freckles are the same color as my black friends, that freckles were proof positive that I had black ancestors. I was disappointed to find none in the recent family tree.

Brian

For a surprisingly long time I believed that the criss-cross web of lines on the back of my hand were very small threads, and that if I snagged one of the threads the back of my hand would unravel.

The first thing I did if I ever cut the back of my hand was check the wound to see if there was any thread damage lest unrecoverable unraveling occur...

Ric

when i was maybe 12-13 i belived that if i picked a scab and put silly putty on the scab, i would turn the colour of the silly putty. i always wanted to be blue. so i did it one day, and taped silly putty to myself for at least a week. sadly i am not blue!

carl chapman

When my brother was little i was putting on a face mask that was suppost to open your pores. So of coarse he had gotten into it and put some on his face. When he asked what pores were I told him they were little holes in your face he started crying because he thought he was going to have huge holes in his face because the mask was going to open them up!

Kelli

I have a beauty mark on the back of my neck that zig zags about an inch long. My wom used to sew dolls and bears for me and I watched her. I thought my zig zag was the stitching God made after putting my "stuffing" in. I thought everyone had them. It was a long time before I realized what it was.

Emily

I have a light brown birthmark on the outside of my left calf. For years I was convinced that was where my mother spilled coffee on me when I was a baby.

Texas granny

When I was about 7, I guess, I spilt some warm tea down myself. I was wiping it off and noticed a light brown mark on my leg on the inside of my knee. Well, it was tea coloured and I’d never noticed it before so I kept wiping it and for years afterwards I believed the tea had stained me! Now I know it’s a birthmark but it took years to figure out it wasn’t tea. It still think it’s funnier being a tea stain.

Claire

Once I learned about skin color, I couldn't believe that my mother wasn't white. I'm brown and I swore that my mother was white. Later on I learned that she was just "light skinned."

Billie

When I was about 5, I was living in Georgia. We were getting ready to move and some gentlemen from the moving company were helping pack everything up. Well my mom walked in on a conversation I was having with an employee. I was telling him that I couldn't wait to grow up so I could have dark black skin like his. I thought it was pretty.

Katie

that creases in clothes would pinch your skin

katy

I used to believe that black people were white people covered in chocolate and put in the fridge for a few hours

Haha