Game Changer

by Neal Shusterman

There are choices we make, choices that are made for us, and things we ignore long enough until all choices have fallen away.

“Color shouldn’t matter” I was always taught—and always believed. But there’s a big difference between “shouldn’t” and “doesn’t.” Privilege is all about not seeing that gap.

I knew who I was in this world now. And here’s the terrible, horrible truth. I wasn’t all that different. Aside from having no Black or Latinx friends here, I was the same as I was in the previous worlds. I thought this version of me—this product of segregation—would be some terrible fun house distortion. But I wasn’t any more clueless or insensitive than before . . . because I was already clueless and insensitive.

“Disappointment isn’t about the things a person is,” my mom said. “It’s about the things they do.”

Seeing the various versions of my father was eye-opening. I learned he was anything but forward-thinking, and tolerant only of the things he already tolerated. But he was starting to stretch in small ways. Even the most inflexible things start to give when you bend them enough. Either that or they break.

And what if Santa actually gave you a puppy that shit candy? Would that be amazing, or would it be so scary that you’d need serious therapy for the rest of your life?