Segregation

In our neighborhood, we have many ethnically Chinese people, mostly Thai-Chinese.

In our neighborhood, there are two elementary schools. One is populated mostly by Thai-Chinese--light-skinned people, we could call them white people, but that would be misleading. This school puts on the Chinese Opera every month, and our boys go to watch, to eat puffy sweets, and to be entertained by the dragons and costumes and fake sword play behind white curtains.

The other school is populated by brown people--ethnic Thais. Poo shopped around for a school for Thun and Jason, and she could have chosen either school. Naturally, she chose the brown-skinned school, which is a very good school.

"Why did you choose THAT school?" I accused her, "is it because you are not Chinese?"

"No!" she said, "it has nothing to do with Chinese. But the school I chose has a nice playground."