When my son, who was four at the time, asked an African American man why his skin was so dark I cringed in fear. Is that a racist question? I asked myself.

Silly, really, because the curiosity of a young child should not be thought of as anything other than just that. And it probably wasn't; the man might not have even heard the question since he simply walked away, not saying a word.

I explained to my son, and my other young children, that different people have different skin color. I tried to use the scientific explanation using natural selection and how different people evolved based on climates and the like.

You know, I'm tall and have a long nose and lighter skin. My genetic ancestry comes from northern Europe where it is colder and my physical traits tend to have adapted to that climate, allowing me to live more comfortably.

Of course, explaining these things to a 4-year old is tantamount to talking to a brick wall since the attention span doesn't allow for more than the phrase, "Well, you see son ... " before his eyes glaze over and his mind wonders off to more important topics like his Hot Wheels.

And that's a clue, right there, to the innocence of children and big questions. He can ask such a sensitive question like one about skin color and one moment later wonder why the door of his Matchbox 1969 Charger doesn't open; those questions are of equal importance to him.

Children have the ability to filter meaningful questions in a very innocent way. In most cases they're minds have not been fully corrupted by the complexities of fear; they have not mastered the art of cynicism; they are not steeped in a world of negatives.

I can't shield my children from the world entirely; nor do I want to shield them. I suppose I would like to keep them protected from the specter of racism and keep them innocent, but that's not likely.

This is a media-driven world and once I turn my back, they're being fed a message about something or another, whether I like it or not. You can't turn on the television, the radio or the computer without something stimulating their minds and planting seeds for later questions.

My youngest daughter has been oddly enraptured by politics since the 2006 elections caught her attention. At 5-years old she had definite political opinions based on televised debates or interviews with candidates and at 7-years old she's no different.

Barack Obama is her man in this election, which likely means she's been paying attention to talk about race.

I suppose it's safe to say that talk about race isn't negatively impacting her. Yet I worry because, I suppose, as a parent I want to plant the right seeds; and maybe I have.

An expert on racism and the South once told me that racism is alive and well in the world. Proof of his statement, he said, was in the mere fact that we were having a conversation about race. We are, he told me, so aware of race as an issue that we can't help for it to be a factor.

Of course, as adults we might ask ourselves why does it have to be a factor? After all, we're no longer children fascinated by the details of differences; rather, we are supposedly mature beings capable of logic, reason, common sense.

Funny thing is, we're equally capable of letting fear rule us every which way to Sunday. And that, I suspect, makes racism more accessible since it is fear that drives such an unappealing thing.