It was certainly an interesting experience and research project, but I’m glad I did it.

I had the benefit, of course, of being an adult who knew about the history of blackface. It sounds like when you were a kid, you didn’t, and if you still feel a little guilty about whatever happened with the MJ costume it might mean it’s worth exploring (privately if you prefer, of course).

As a kid, we used paper book covers in school, and I doodled geometric patterns on mine. I inadvertently doodled a swastika-like pattern up front and center on one that created quite a stir — I basically had to prove I’d never seen the symbol before and made it up, but no one ever told me *why* it was bad. It was very confusing until I figured it out years later, and I was so embarrassed because I had so many Jewish friends.

When we’re kids, we’re still learning. It’s the strength of our apologies and what we do with our knowledge that’s important.