5 Feet of Fury

‘This NPR article comes with a trigger warning’

Said the email subject line.

It should also come with a “don’t-pull-the-trigger-after-you-read-this-apparently-NON-satirical-article”:

Whenever I hear the [ice cream truck] music now, the antique voice laughing about niggers and watermelon fills my head.

I can live with this, but what’s to be done on the summer day when my children’s eyes light up at the far-off sound of the familiar melody, and they dash in a frenzy toward me for change?

Do I empower them with the history of our country, or encourage the youthful exuberance induced by the ice cream truck?

Is it my responsibility to foul the sweet taste of ice cream with their first taste of racism?