Journeys in Black: Three Six-Line Scenes

by Justin Anderson

ONE
(Grade 1)

TEACHER: Children, we have a new addition to the class today. His name is Justin. Say hello, Justin.
JUSTIN: Hello.
TEACHER: You may notice that Justin looks a bit different than some of you. That's because his father is black and his mother is white. Isn't that right Justin?
JUSTIN: Um. Yes.
TEACHER: Children, we must all remember how wonderful it is that we have beautiful children like Justin in the world, who represent the unity of people of all colours and backgrounds coming together. So remember, even though he looks different than many of you, he's the same deep down inside. The same. Right Justin?
JUSTIN: . . . I like toys.

TWO
(GIRL IN UNIVERSITY)

WHITE GIRL: Wow, that was so incredible. I guess what they say about black guys is true, huh?
JUSTIN: Uh. Yeah, sure. That was pretty great. You were great.
WHITE GIRL: That was so much more satisfying than the sex I've had with my numerous white boyfriends and miscellaneous acquaintances in the past. I feel so much more . . . cultured. Cultured by your black penis. Which is indeed larger than the penises of the other men I've slept with. My girlfriends are going to be so jealous of all the fantastic animal sex I'm now having.
JUSTIN: Uh . . . okay.
WHITE GIRL: Won't you put on some of that jungle music you love so much with its primal beats, my strapping black stallion?
JUSTIN: Nah. Gonna put on that Pixies CD I bought yesterday.

THREE
(UNIVERSITY ENGLISH CLASS)

OLD WHITE PROFESSOR: So, to recap, class, Uncle Tom's Cabin was ahead of its time, and shows both the evils of the slave culture in the American South, but also lays bare the hypocrisies of the North. Isn't that right, Justin?
JUSTIN: Um. Yeah. Yeah, sure.
OLD WHITE PROFESSOR: I think it's great that in an institution of higher learning like this one that a young man of colour like yourself can interact with other students of different backgrounds. Why, I remember when I was your age, coloured folk weren't even allowed to drink from the same water fountains as whites. Progress is a beautiful thing, isn't it Justin?
JUSTIN: I suppose, though I'm really only half black. My mother's French Canadian. So technically, I'm as French Canadian as I am black.
OLD WHITE PROFESSOR: Yes, but Justin, if you'd been around in 19th century America, you'd have been working the cotton fields with the other slaves. Lucky for you though, you and your beautiful people and culture can co-exist with the ancestors of those who subjected you to so much horror and pain. No matter what you say or do or think, you'll always be a proud Nubian king to us guilty white folk.
JUSTIN: . . . I like toys.

BONUS TRACK: FOUR
(WORK)

EDITOR: Justin, I need you to review these new albums by R. Kelly, Jay-Z, DMX and, to a lesser extent, Destiny's Child. You know a lot about urban music, right?
JUSTIN: Uh . . . not really. I mean, I listened to hip-hop when I was in high school with my white and Jewish and Asian friends. But that's not -
EDITOR: Great. You can be our "urban specialist." Sweet. We're putting together a spotlight on urban music next month, so I'll need you to call up the black guys at all the record labels and, you know, talk the talk with them, find out "what's happenin'" on the streets. Sound good?
JUSTIN: I'll call them, sure. But I really wouldn't call myself an expert on urban music. I barely listen to hip-hop music at all anymore, and I've never liked R&B.
EDITOR: Where are you going? Maybe you should play some of those beats from the street to get us all in the mood. "Bling bling," and all that, y'know?
JUSTIN: Nah. Gonna put on that Hives CD I bought yesterday.