Last week Henry asked me if we were white.

Yes, baby, we're white.

But our skin’s not white.

I know. It’s more like beige but it’s called white.

What’s beige?

It’s like tan or peach. But people come in all colors. Tan, black, brown, yellow, red, light, dark. Skin color doesn’t really matter because we are all the same on the inside.

But why are some people made black?

I don’t know. They just have a different skin pigment. Something in our genes picks our skin color.

Luckily, we pulled up in front of their school because I didn’t feel like I was doing a very good job explaining skin color. And I knew there was more to Henry’s question. Henry is a listener. He pays attention to what we hear on NPR in the mornings and he usually has comments and observations.

For example, way back in September, Henry mentioned that a lot of people sure have been dying lately.

Who died Henry?

The apple guy.

The apple guy? Who is the apple guy?

You know. The guy that owns computers. And a lot of people also died from cantaloupe.

See? He listens. He pays attention to what is going on in the world around him. So I wasn’t surprised the next morning when Henry asked me why that boy got shot. He’d been thinking about skin color the day before and I knew exactly what he was trying to work out.

And then I started to cry, which did surprise me.