My heart hurts today.

It was nothing more than a childish insult but brings with it a realization that the world isn’t always so easy.

My husband and I were ordering food at the counter of a busy restaurant. My two daughters were waiting at the table, enjoying the crayons and colouring books we had brought along.  

I was just about to head to the table when my oldest daughter came running up to me. “Mommy, those girls said I had poo skin.” She pointed to a group of girls seated a few feet away with their parents.

And I saw it.

It seems that Donald Sterling thinks that his girlfriend looks bad posing with black people.

Actually, Donald, what really makes her look bad is sleeping with you.

Or, I mean, business associating with you (wink, wink).

I think it’s pretty clear that Donald Sterling is a problem that needs to be resolved. Hopefully, he goes far away and we don’t have to hear about him again.

So, yes, he’s a problem, but, unfortunately, he’s not the problem.

Thirty years ago, I was just a young child playing on our front lawn. It was a warm summer day and the sprinkler was on. My sister and I were running back and forth in the water, having fun splashing around.

Some men happened to pull up to the stop sign beside our corner house. They rolled down their windows and gave me my first taste of what some of the world thought of me.

“Paki.”

“Go home.”

“Get out of our country.”

I was four years old.