Keli’s hair is pressed straight. In order to achieve this look, the hairdresser blow-dried her hair, applied a hot oil treatment, flat ironed it, and then wrapped it in a silk scarf. Now Keli’s hair looks silky smooth and luxurious. I really need to get mine done, so I understand her pain. Jia, who has been complaining about not wanting to hike since we got on the bus, joins Keli’s protest. “Yea, I don’t want Keli’s hair to get messed up either. I’m staying in solidarity with the Black struggle.”

“That’s exactly why the Black Delegation traded you in,” Earnell says with pride.

Connor flips. “But you’re Asian?! And your hair, Keli?! Seriously?!” He scoffs. Several of us, including myself, start yelling at him about the differences between Black hair and white hair. Connor is so overwhelmed, he puts his hands up in defeat and says, “OK, OK. Whoa. Calm down.”

“Telling people of color to calm down is just an inconsiderate way to mute our legitimate concerns about injustice.”

Connor looks at Earnell in annoyance and continues, “Look, I know the world is full of vast cultural differences, many of which I’ll probably never understand—”

“You got that right,” Earnell chastises as Connor presses on with his tolerance spiel.

“Keli and Jia, you can both stay here and miss this bonding experience. Your loss. Whatever. Everybody else, here are your groups. Your task is to find all five clues hidden around the forest. Stay on the main trail, which is marked in yellow. Look for your particular labeled, roped-off area. The team that collects all five clues the fastest wins a special nature pin and bragging rights.”

“Pfff, well, there goes my motivation to try,” Earnell says mockingly.

“Boy, I really don’t understand you people,” Connor replies. He immediately realizes the implications of what he’s just said and starts stumbling over his words. “I mean, not you people as in YOU PEOPLE.” He laughs uneasily. “I mean like, hey, you very different human beings of varying backgrounds and life experiences.”

Earnell strokes Freddy. The rest of us look at Connor in silent scold. Now we hold the powerful, watchful gaze. I almost clap my hands as punishment but decide against it. I know that kind of power in Earnell’s hands, once he becomes aware, is dangerous. Though we are silently judging Connor, we are not really offended. Our RWP sensor tells us that Connor’s heart is in the right place despite his ignorance. That makes all the difference in how we receive his unexamined divulsions. If his pulse burned with hate, we would unleash Freddy and the ancestral forces on him.

Connor snaps his fingers enthusiastically and shouts, “All right, folks! Move out! You have one hour to complete your mission.”

Earnell turns toward Connor again and says, “You also shouldn’t snap your fingers at mostly Black people—”

“Or Asian,” Jia chimes in.