Raising Dion – Marked
In the early days of carnivals, carny operators had a trick called “marking”. When they encountered a customer who seemed especially gullible, one of them would draw an actual mark on their shirt so that other carnies would spot that customer and know they could con him out of more money. This is the origin of the con artist’s term, an “easy mark”.
Can you imagine discovering that you yourself have been marked? To be considered and treated differently than everyone else because of something you can’t control?
In the series, “Raising Dion”, a widowed mother, Nicole, discovers that her 2nd grade son, Dion, is developing extreme superpowers that he doesn’t know how to control, including telekinesis and teleportation. To try to protect him and keep his powers hidden, Nicole volunteers at his school to keep a close eye on him. Unfortunately, a classmate named Jonathan encourages Dion to give up the prize watch his mother gave him, and then refuses to return it. Unable to make him give it back, Dion’s rage sends Jonathan toppling to the ground.
The principal addresses Dion and Jonathan, and gives Dion detention, letting Jonathan go. Nicole tells the principal that Jonathan is wearing Dion’s watch, and the other kids all insist Dion never touched him, so she asks why Dion is getting detention.
But she knows why. Dion is black, and the racist principal assumes Dion somehow caused the problem, in spite of the obvious facts.
Nicole’s sister urges her to explain this racism to Dion, but Nicole doesn’t want to shatter his world at such a young age. “You want me to tell him that people are going to slap him down, every chance they get?” she asks. Her sister tells her “yes”, to prepare Dion for what he will face in the world.
Dion has to know the horrible truth that he will always be marked.
So Nicole tells him why the principal treated him differently than Jonathan. How he was taught wrong ways of thinking, to make him think a boy who looks like Dion is likely to do something wrong. How Dion will have to try twice as hard as others, to give people no reason to suspect him of trying to cause trouble for anyone.
And both Nicole and Dion are crushed by the injustice of it all.
But being marked is not just about race. You can be marked for your education level, income level, being too young or too old, being too pretty or not pretty enough, having the wrong faith or having no faith at all, or even living in the wrong neighborhood or talking to the wrong people.
It’s very easy to become marked. And very difficult to get that mark removed.
The only consolation you can have is in knowing that some people don’t see a mark when they look at you. And you don’t have to see one, either. You can focus instead on the things that make you special, which includes your mark.
Later in the series, Dion uses his special powers to make his new friend, Esperanza, float off of her wheelchair. He figures if he was in a wheelchair, he would want to be able to fly.
But Esperanza doesn’t like it. Not one bit. And the fact that Dion assumed, without asking, that she would want to be free of her chair, makes her stop talking to him. Dion later apologizes for treating her like she needed to be fixed when she’s not actually broken, and they become friends again.
See, it’s not only easy to be marked. It’s also easy to mark people around us. But having a certain skin color or certain “dis”-ability doesn’t make us any less of a person. Dion’s skin doesn’t make him any less powerful or intelligent than his classmates. It also doesn’t make him any less prone to making the same mistakes as others, in how he views his friends. Being in a wheelchair doesn’t limit Esperanza’s mobility as much as Dion thought. When Dion was upset at his birthday party, Esperanza was the only classmate who followed him to try to cheer him up. Her commitment to their friendship makes her far more mobile to help Dion than the rest of his classmates.
You and I are going to get marked. And we’re going to make the mistake of marking others. Just know that our assumptions about ourselves and others don’t change the value of who we really are.
When you get marked, don’t let it make you feel marked down.
Click here for the trailer!
