![eenie meenie miney mo in spanish eenie meenie miney mo in spanish](https://www.appuseries.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/el-barquito-chiquitito-spanish-n-636x358.jpg)
I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood in a predominantly white city. You just think its tiger because you are a n*****.” She smiled as she replied, “It is n*****. They stopped chanting, looked at me and ‘Caroline’ said flatly, “It’s not tiger.” But as we approached ‘catch a…’ I snapped out of my daze and as if on auto-pilot, I yelled “TIGER!” over the rest of the white kids who proceeded as usual.
![eenie meenie miney mo in spanish eenie meenie miney mo in spanish](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/44/09/dc/4409dcabac289021b55ed03b58bd18ee--overwater-bungalows-at-the-beach.jpg)
I looked at each face in the group to see if anyone else realized what they’d said–maybe it was a collective mistake? I was stunned as the third wave of rhyming started again. “Eeeny, meeny miney, moe, catch a n***** by the toe.” The first kid was eliminated from the decision-making process as the rhyme came again. Did I hear right? Isn’t tigger? I’d always said tigger. “Eeeny, meeny, miney, moe, catch a n***** by the toe.” I don’t remember what we were trying to decide, but we would defer to the routine to make the decision. But I remember the first time the words hit me. The melody and words are recited automatically with little attention paid to detail. The rhyme is part of every 10 year- old’s decision making routine. As a child, my first time came packaged in a rhyme known by everyone– making the blow feel conspiratorial and that much worse. Anyone who has ever been in the minority remembers the first time a word knocked the wind out of them.