A Facebook group was created called "Kick a Ginger" Day inspired by a 2005 "South Park" episode in which Cartman calls redheads "evil" and "soulless"and said they suffer from a disease called gingervitis. OK, it's kinda funny. That is until last week when things got serious and kids got hurt.
Several kids at A. E. Wright, a middle school in Calabasas, CA, took the joke too far when they started beating and harassing red headed students. Three of those students face criminal charges and the fourteen year old Vancouver boy who started the Facebook group is also being being investigated and could face charges as well. It made me feel slightly less depressed to read that a group of friends rallied around one of the redheads providing protection as she went from class to class. At least all hope isn't lost for our kind. But the predictions seem so dire. First, we're headed for extinction, then it's proven that we're not just big babies about needles or anesthesia, but are actually genetically inclined to feel more pain (told ya so Mom!) And now this!
Sad to say I know all too well the plight of the redhead. I didn't just grow up a redhead anywhere, I grew up a redhead in South Texas. An identical twin and a redhead. An identical twin, a redhead with freckles, glasses, braces, a few extra pounds and next to zero pigmentation. The only thing that saved me from complete and total social exile was was my enthusiasm for doing other kids homework and my aptitude at the trombone. Yes, I also played the trombone.
Adolescence is cruel for almost any one but add in hair the color of carrots and it was a whole steaming pile of difficult. I heard nicknames like Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite (she had blond hair but c'mon kids can make almost anything seem insulting). When people compared us to someone famous, it was usually Chelsea Clinton (cue sounds of thirteen year old sobbing). It wasn't even about the hair color, it was about being different. The mob mentality preyed upon on the weak and redheads seem to land firmly in that category. I so desperately wanted to look like the beautiful blondes on Dallas or Cindy Crawford with her luxurious brunette locks. I didn't want to be different. I wanted to be just like everyone else. And then I got older. I lost the weight and grew my hair out. I left the confines of my small Texas town and took trips to San Francisco, New York, and Mexico. And something strange began to happen. Everywhere we went, we were noticed. Not just noticed but admired. We were the red-headed twins. Not a bad thing, something people were intrigued and excited by. People stopped to talk to us. Old ladies touched our hair and told us we were good luck. Men old enough to be our father proposed marriage. It was strangely flattering, all of it, but it wasn't enough to convince me that being a redhead was anything other than a curse.
And, sure enough, one day I made a big decision to leave my redheaded roots behind me. I'd gone to a salon and when the overly enthusiastic stylist convinced me that I desperately needed highlights... $300 highlights (he left that part out). I said yes without any hesititation. When he was finished, I was almost blonde. Barely a trace of my redheaded self remained. I looked in the mirror and I saw a stranger. I hated it and so did most of the people who knew me. It took a few months to grow out and I went back to my natural color (or as close to it as possible). I wasn't upset or ashamed anymore. I'm a redhead dammit, and proud of it.
Of course, I couldn't tell my eight-year old, or twelve-year old or sixteen year old self that but I've figured it out now. Being a redhead gave me the ability to embrace my differences. It allowed me to be okay with not being part of the crowd. It may have even set me on the path of following my dreams, no matter how crazy or farfetched they seemed. Maybe I would've never been inspired to step on stage or pick up a pen and write my own stories. Maybe I'd simply be another peroxide blond in a sea of peroxide blondes. The world has enough Pamela Andersons. I think we need a few more Christina Hendricks!
The South Park spoof was meant as a satire on racism, homophobia and anti-semitism but kids aren't savy enough to understand that. The sad thing is that those gingers who were targeted, who found themselves beaten and humiliated may never embrace their redheaded greatness. They'll L'oreal it away and pretend that's not who they were or they'll soldier on, burdened by their carrot tops, always secretly wishing they were anything but. And that's a shame. Maybe someday someone will start a Hug a Ginger Day or a A Redheads Rule Day. Maybe I will. Because in the end, being a redhead is something I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. " by Holly Nell
To be continued @ a later Date !
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