I used to think that "stretch marks" were those lines that you get on your tummy when your jeans are too tight.

I remember being about 8 and saying "Gosh mom, you sure have a lot of stretch marks on your stomach!" and getting slapped like 3 feet across the room.

ClashRocker

I used to believe that people were different colours depending on how long God backed them in the oven.

Miltysmom

I use to beleve that people who where black, was people who had been in the sun to much,so they get sunburn. That was why they where black.

elise

I used to think that everyone gets more freckles as they get older, and when they get all of their freckles, then they're black people. I thought that black people were people whose freckles had all come in!

Luke C.

I used to believe that black people were black because there's too much sun in Africa. I watched a Discovery Channel program on climate and they talked about how much hotter Africa is than the United States, so I figured everybody black, having roots in Africa, was sunburned, and it even passed down to their children. Whenever my mom pestered me about how much I needed sunblock at the beach, I didn't worry that much because I would just become a black person! When my mom kept insisting I wear sunblock, that made me think that my mom didn't like black people, or at least didn't want me to be black. I pretty much held this belief until my mom explained that the sun can give you cancer, and THEN I thought all black people had cancer! She eventually learned everything I believed and set everything straight. Thank goodness.

bear claw bill

I was raised as my mother was, believing that freckles were the result of flies landing on me. After switching schools to a catholic school, I shared my worldly freckle knowledge with a classmate. Not only was she completely disgusted, but proclaimed that I was enirely wrong. In fact, freckles are from angel's kisses.

Casey Dougherty

My mother is a South-African who emigrated to Europe before I was born. As a political activist she always referred to Blacks as "Africans." I was unfamiliar with the term black as a noun rather than an adjective.
When I was five we visited South Africa. On a trip at Kruger Park I encountered a washing area that had a sign that said "Nie vir swartes nie" ("Not for black people"). I assumed that it meant that the washing area was forbidden for people who were, like me, black from playing in the dirt, and was consumed with the thought that I would be arrested for washing there. I also wondered how they expected me to become pink again if I wasn't allowed to wash, and where the washing area for dirty kids was, and whether I would be expelled from the country for putting my muddy feet in the basin.
When my father and mother explained about Apartheid and the meaning of that sign I cried in righteous indignation for hours.

Sanne

when i was 4 or so i used to think that whenever my mamaw would pull on her panty hose it was her actual skin and i would start screamin my head off!!!

pantyhose girl

I used to believe that if white people would turn brown in the sun then brown people would turn white.

Anon

I used to belief that 'black people' were made of chocolate.

Anon

I came from a small town consisitng of all white people. When I was younger I thought ALL black people were related to each other.

Lisa

Black men were actually roasted

Ant

My parents used to tell me my birthmark on my stomach was a part of me. I used to believe that was the actual name of the spot on my skin. When I was asked at school what that spot was on my stomach I just said "It's a part of me!"

Memphis

When I was a little kid, I was afraid of band-aids because I thought they would tear my skin off.

Sarah Libby

I used to believe that black people we're made out of chocolate.

Anon

I was born in Asia, and until I came to the U.S., I thought black people were make-believe.

Anon

my cousin (18) told her sister (5) that if she got tan she would have to change her name to Fatima. so she avoided the sun almost all summer

Kjell

I used to believe that if I tapped on my nose and cheeks enough that freckles would eventually pop up. I always wanted freckles as a kid.

Natasha H

When I was in year 1 they told us that people came in different colours because god had made us all out of clay but had left some of us in the oven longer. HMMMMMMM not exactly P.C
Then when i went home and informed my mum of my new found wisdom she called and complained :)

Alee

When I was little I heard about moles, the mammal, and became convinced that the moles on people's skin were actually the tip of burrowed mole's tails poking up. I had no clue how they got into your skin, but I became very scared of them.

Joe