Getting “played” on the Wheel of Misfortune: Divide and Conquer techniques among the Dominant
Culture towards People of Color
By Ivy Farguheson
University of New Mexico
It has been commonly said that children of four and five years will play together, somewhat
enjoyably, until someone comes along to tell them that they are not to play with someone because of
one reason or another. This statement is usually said in order to demonstrate that racism or prejudice is
taught and that until children are taught not to play together, any racist activity is not present in their
minds. Although education is essential to ending racism, this analogy many times seems simple
because of its demonstration that children could not receive racist messages from the institutions
around them at early ages. Recently, I have been taking care of two little girls
1
, both 5 years old, in my
neighborhood for a short time when they were playing together. Normally, it was a typical play
sessions with two five year old girls playing “Princess” or “Tea Party”. On my last babysitting
expedition, one of the girls, Ashley, said that she wanted to be the Princess, as she normally was.
When Alicia said she wanted to be the Princess, Ashley resoundly stated, “You can’t. Black people
can’t be Princesses.” Before I could even intervene to talk to them about what was said, Alicia was
crying, not because she could not be the Princess, although that was part of her anger and hurt, but
because she could not play Princess because she was perceived as Black. I discussed with the both of
them how in fact many Black women and girls have been Princesses and Queens, but Alicia was
having none of it. Finally she went out of the room yelling, “I hate being Black!” Ashley continued to
play by herself as if nothing had happened, nonetheless that her best friend had run off crying. The
point of this story is that playing itself can be the time when racist attitudes are present the most, not
only with little girls, but with children of many ages. This playing activity may not be the peaceful
Page 1 of 21 
Convention