But as we approached ‘catch a…’ I snapped out of my daze and as if on auto-pilot, I yelled “TIGER!” over the rest of the white kids who proceeded as usual. I looked at each face in the group to see if anyone else realized what they’d said–maybe it was a collective mistake? I was stunned as the third wave of rhyming started again. “Eeeny, meeny miney, moe, catch a n***** by the toe.” The first kid was eliminated from the decision-making process as the rhyme came again. Did I hear right? Isn’t tigger? I’d always said tigger. “Eeeny, meeny, miney, moe, catch a n***** by the toe.” I don’t remember what we were trying to decide, but we would defer to the routine to make the decision. But I remember the first time the words hit me. The melody and words are recited automatically with little attention paid to detail. The rhyme is part of every 10 year- old’s decision making routine. As a child, my first time came packaged in a rhyme known by everyone– making the blow feel conspiratorial and that much worse. Anyone who has ever been in the minority remembers the first time a word knocked the wind out of them.
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