A Letter to Eric's Stormtrooper

Searching among the rubble these careless children have left in their wake, I find you. Just by looking at you it is clear this is not your first time here. There is dirt caked in your joints and scratches across your chest. You have been in a war, though not the war you were expecting. Rather than fighting Chewbacca or Princess Leia, you are fighting the sneers of the white children as they search for English in the soft spoken words of your owner. You are fighting the sadness of a five year old boy that wants nothing more than to play with the other kids, yet can not communicate. You are tackling a barrier that was erected before you came to exist: the barrier between Chinese and English.

Even now, I can hear him asking the most patient of these boys and girls, where his stormtrooper went. The scent of tears yet to be birthed hangs in the air, making us all choke a little bit on the salt. We all know what’s coming next. Louder than a crack of thunder, I hear it; Eric’s soft cries and gasps as he frantically searches. His chubby cheeks are slick with his tears and his chin trembles as though he is in an earthquake. Do you see know what he goes through when you are not here? This is not your fight alone. You may be a lieutenant in this fight but he is surely the general, feeling the brunt of the force your enemy fights with.

Silently I will him to keep fighting, to realize that he needs to be strong to win this fight. But he is a five year old boy first and a soldier second. I hand you back to him, wipe his tears away with a tissue, and ask him if he is hungry for lunch. He nods and says yes, and it is now I know he is winning.

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

This is sad, sweet, and unfortunately, all too realistic. Small children are usually void of prejudice, but it doesn't take long for grownups to teach it to them. Around the world, this monster is rearing its head up, so let us admonish the thing every chance we get.