October 24, 2008
This morning Claudia and I were talking about voting. I explained to her that if you were over 18 and a United States citizen you got to pick who you wanted to be your leader. I tried to simplify it (I don’t even think I could explain the electoral college if I wanted to) and I told her that whoever got the most votes would win.
To illustrate this point I did what any good mommy blogger would do – I Googled a picture of Barack Obama and John McCain.
I pointed at each man and said this is Barack Obama and this is John McCain. Then we looked at a different picture of them and I pointed them out again. Then we looked at another.
I asked Claudia if she could tell which one was which.
She pointed at the man on the left “This is Narack Ofama” (meh, close enough for a four year old) “and this is John McCain. You know how I can tell?”
I asked her how.
“They have different color hair.”
While I sit here and worry that there are Americans out there that won’t vote for a good man just because of the color of his skin I can be assured that at least one of the next generation of voters didn’t even notice the difference.
That gives me hope.
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October 24th, 2008 at 8:45 am, Tonja Says:
I just had something similar happen that I loved – my 6 year old was making a picture of himself on the computer where he had a bunch of choices for all features. He called me over and asked me which skin color was his – light or dark – loved that he didn’t know the difference.
October 24th, 2008 at 8:57 am, True Jersey Girl Says:
My almost-5-year-old did something similar. She was telling me about a new girl in school; I asked her to tell me what the girl looked like. Found out she had black hair, brown eyes, wore a red shirt to school that day, had a pink backpack…never once did she mention the little girl was black. Seriously, what happens to us as we grow up that we lose that?
And she loves Barack Obama, by the way, and wants to vote for him, and Michelle, and their kids. Im raising her right
October 24th, 2008 at 8:58 am, shiny Says:
My five year old had an interesting day care/pre-school experience for the first four years of his life — as the only Jewish kid in a school full of mostly Christian kids and a faculty made up of primarily devout Northern African Muslim women. For a long while, he was convinced that women of color simply cover their hair with scarves — just like many Orthodox Jewish women do. And for a while, that’s how he differentiated between women — those who wear scarves and those who don’t.
Kids are awesome.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:06 am, Kara Says:
Awesome story
October 24th, 2008 at 9:20 am, moosh in indy. Says:
I just asked the moosh the same question with your pictures and she said “I don’t know” though she did recognize Barack from seeing him yesterday.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:22 am, DC Urban Dad Says:
Damn straight.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:29 am, Hilary Says:
I love this story, too. Did you tell her who you were voting for?
October 24th, 2008 at 9:31 am, Ma Mcfartington Says:
One of my favorite momements as a teacher was when two kindergarten kids (this was when I taught special ed) had this conversation, “I’m brown and yu’re white”, “No, I’m pink”, “OK, I’m brown and your pink”. The conversation ended with playing.
Unfortunately, even those kids, your kids, and my kids could care less about color of skin, there are many kids that do care. They are raised that way. I’ve had 5 year olds say “I don’t play with white folks”. I’ve had one that was afraid to touch a black student. I’m still not sure why, but I did convince him that it was ok.
Anyway, sorry about the long winded response…
October 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am, Liz Says:
I love little kids. My friend’s son, around that same age, once asked his dad why one of the boys in his preschool was “chocolate.” (hee!) Dad explained that, “you know how you have different color hair from mommy, and how mommy and I have different color eyes? Well, some people have different color skin.” Son just nodded, and his world made perfect sense. Everyone looks different. Hooray!
October 24th, 2008 at 10:00 am, lumpyheadsmom Says:
It’s amazing what children don’t notice until they’re taught to do so.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:10 am, magpie Says:
Nice.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:35 am, Cynthia Samuels Says:
I would just like to note, in addition to getting all squooshy from your lovely story so beautifully rendered, that you ought to take some credit for fine, fine child rearing, too. It’s easy for what happened with Claudia to be prevented by accidental comments, bad jokes etc that a parent like you would never raise nor tolerate. Do you know that song from South Pacific? Lumpy’s comment reminded me. I will be pushy and put it here:
You’ve got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You’ve got to be taught
From year to year,
It’s got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade,
You’ve got to be carefully taught.
You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You’ve got to be carefully taught!
Have a lovely weekend with those two cool little ones..
October 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pm, cheryl Says:
Agreed…it’s a joyful thing.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pm, Kat Says:
That is absolutely awesome.
October 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm, Ree Says:
I, too, have to agree with Lumpy. Your children – my child – and hopefully, MORE AND MORE AND MORE children will, someday, not notice any differences.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:25 pm, Brenda Says:
Classic example of “out of the mouths of babes.” I do have hope for the future. My hope is that we have dealt with enough BS while growing up that maybe, just maybe our kids won’t have to.
October 24th, 2008 at 1:40 pm, patois Says:
I’d have thought she’d point out the double chin difference.
I tried to explain the electoral college to my husband and gave up. I think Claudia might get it more quickly than he did.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:15 pm, Sports Mama Says:
Love it. Absolutely love it.
You’ve got a brilliant daughter. But you knew that, right?
October 24th, 2008 at 2:34 pm, cartoongoddess Says:
After reading that, my smile is a mile wide. Thanks for sharing it.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:35 pm, Maternal Mirth Says:
Hope.
No other words.
October 24th, 2008 at 2:42 pm, the weirdgirl Says:
That’s awesome! Did you hear that the kids’ presidential pick on Nick/Noggin was Barack Obama? I’m not really surprised, when you take out all politics, he just looks friendlier.
October 24th, 2008 at 4:46 pm, Jenni Says:
gives me hope too.
October 24th, 2008 at 5:22 pm, Melissa Says:
Oh, I just love that. I hope that we are raising our girls to have that same outlook. Great job, Sarah!
October 24th, 2008 at 5:55 pm, Whit Says:
My 5-year-old walks around telling people to vote for Barack Obama because he’s a good man. I like that.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:06 pm, tifRN Says:
awww. i love narack ofama, too.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:31 pm, Stimey Says:
That’s a great story. Good for her!
October 25th, 2008 at 6:58 am, NG Says:
Lovely.
My 5 year old wants Barack Obama to win. But she thinks it wouldn’t be fair to the others, so after Barack runs the country for awhile, Sarah Palin and John McCain should each get a shot at it and then we can all decide who did a better job.
October 25th, 2008 at 12:55 pm, ilinap Says:
I just had to share my post from today. It’s on this very topic. http://www.dirtandnoise.com/2008/10/racism-is-race-that-must-end.html
October 25th, 2008 at 3:29 pm, Thomas Says:
If you are stupid enough to elect him – you deserve him.
It would be better to vote for a random person from street, than for Obama.
Take care and be well, America!
Best wishes, from Eastern Europe.
October 25th, 2008 at 3:55 pm, Ali Says:
I have an 8 year old brother, and I asked him if he could vote, who would he vote for. I guess they do a lot of election stuff on Nickelodeon so he said “Who is the guy in the blue square.” I told him Barack Obama, but not that I was voting for him or anything about him. He said “Yeah, Rock Obama, I like him. The other guy is bald and will take all of our jobs and make us start them over again.” I thought the last part was funny, but more that the distinguishing characteristic of McCain was his hair!
October 25th, 2008 at 4:11 pm, John Says:
Awesome.
My daughter calls him “Brock Orgami”
Who ever wins, I told her he will be referred to as “President McCain” “President Obama” or “Mr. President”.
October 25th, 2008 at 5:41 pm, Big BOb Says:
Your daughter is a fine young girl. She sounds like the perfect future Republican.
October 25th, 2008 at 6:35 pm, Jack Says:
Heh, kind of reminds me of my 8 year old sister. Maybe a year ago or so she decided that I was black because I happen to be slightly darker than her. I’m German, for the record
October 25th, 2008 at 9:57 pm, Alison Says:
Kids are so awesome. Also, good job on educating them on the candidates. I doubt Miss Pink knows there is an election (guess I need to do better on that area).
October 27th, 2008 at 7:30 am, Rachel Says:
For the first 2 years of Gibson’s school life, he was one of 5 blond-haired, blue-eyed kids in a class of roughly 25 or so. Everyone else was a different ethnicity — which I loved — and it wasn’t even a blip on his radar screen. It’s just the norm. Everyone is different. And when one of the little girls came in for show and tell in her traditional clothing from India, all he could talk about was how beautiful she was. He’s 6 now, and I’ve never heard him mention a difference in skin color, ever. My hope is that that will always be the case……
Oh — and he’s definitely an Obama man, though I think it’s just because it’s such a fun name for 6 year-olds to say.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:03 am, mom101 Says:
My daughter thinks that everyone on the TV that I get excited about these days is Obama. I think she thinks that James Carville and the guys from Superbad are Obama. God bless the preschoolers, for they shall inherit the earth.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:01 pm, heels Says:
My 3 yo saw a picture of Obama on a tshirt recently. I said “what do you think of that man?” He said “That man loves me.” I thought it was awesome.
October 27th, 2008 at 6:22 pm, Aimee Greeblemonkey Says:
awww, that makes me smile.
and Heels comment too. Sniff sniff.
October 27th, 2008 at 9:06 pm, mom101 Says:
Okay so I just came back with Thalia and I showed her the two pictures and I asked her which was which and she told me. I asked how she knew the difference and she said “I knew! Because I really really knew! Now did I win?”
Yes, you won. I told her.
“So then you lose?”
Boy, I hope not.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:18 pm, Naomi Says:
Roo says she likes McCain better “because he has white hair.” I think it’s because she’s been spending too much time at grandma’s with the Fox News on all day…
October 27th, 2008 at 11:24 pm, Redneck Mommy Says:
Beautiful.
The next generation gives me hope.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:23 am, Patt Says:
I love the stories on this site. I hope this might give some of you hope. I grew up in a house where my father often referred to blacks as “n*****s”. Nevertheless, neither I now any of my siblings raised our children as racist. In fact, one night at the dinner table, when my oldest child was in the first or second grade, he shocked us by asking out of the blue what a n***** was. My wife and I were stunned, but we remained calm and asked him where he heard the word. He said he heard it at school. We told him that it was a hurtful word and that only people that didn’t like themselves or people that were black used the word and they usually used it to make themselves feel superior. We told him to never use the word and that hopefully it would die out of the english language like a lot of old fashioned words.
He just turned 18 and is planning to vote for Barack Obama along with his parents and everyone of his aunts and uncles.
October 28th, 2008 at 1:18 am, Amanda @Rosewoods Says:
So an Obama commercial comes on last night and 4 out of our 5 kids in the room started chanting “O-ba-ma, O-ba-ma, O-ba-ma” (it was way too cute). Their ages are 9, 7.5, 6.5, and 3.5. In the midst of it all, though, my recently turned 6 year old, the fifth kid in the room, meekly says “McCain” – and the whole room fell deathly silent…LOL! Now, it’s no secret around here that we are Obama supporters, so I sincerely and gently asked my angel-faced darling why she liked McCain. She told us that she just didn’t want to hurt his feelings because he was being left out! Awww
Of course, my kids don’t know about all the issues and the controversies surrounding either campaign, but it’s nice to know that I’m raising kids who don’t look at the color of someone’s skin to judge whether or not they’ll make a good leader (and at least one kid who may always take the side of the underdog ).
October 28th, 2008 at 6:28 pm, Kristabella Says:
It is interesting to hear about kids, kids that aren’t close to voting, that know about the election and are semi-interested in it. It bodes well for this great country we live in.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:43 am, suzannah Says:
it gives me hope, too:)
October 30th, 2008 at 2:47 am, solicitor bulgaria Says:
That s a pretty stupid 4-year-old: she should notice the difference. The difference should not affect her mom s voting decision. That s a big difference.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:07 am, Amy Says:
Last night the twins were watching Barack and Bill speak at a rally in Florida. I was going to read the twins a book but I told them I just wanted to hear this man speak. My son asked, “why momma”. And I explained that he was going to be the new President. My son said, “He looks like the President”.
Why yes he does.
October 31st, 2008 at 4:18 pm, Lori Says:
I’ve ready that it’s common for kids in pre-school and kindergarten to notice differences in hair, clothing, and behavior between themselves and their classmates, but not to notice differences in skin color. It’s a good thing for sure.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 am, Toon Says:
My little one is 20 months old and will point to any dark skinned man and say “Bama, Bama!’ as well as recognizing his yard signs.
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 am, Michelle Says:
I love this. When my 13 year-old was in kindergarden he got in the car one afternoon and told me that African Americans celebrate Kwanza. I told him not all AA do because we do not. He said “we are AA?” It was one of my most memorable parenting moments. Kids do not know the difference until we tell them. I have never told them that we are different and they never notice. I too have a house full of O-ba-ma supporters. They are just excited. My 13 year old is in love because Obama makes it cool to be smart!
November 4th, 2008 at 7:59 pm, Bethany Zabrosky Says:
How lovely.
My 3 year old only sees the color of people’s shirts. It’s only a problem when she’s following someone with darker skin than ours who happens to be wearing a brown shirt and she’s calling out, “Hey brown boy! Brown boy! Come play with me!”
Thank you for visiting my blog. I have been reading some of your archives and I enjoy your writing very much!
November 7th, 2008 at 1:24 pm, Mer@Lifeat7000Feet Says:
That’s amazing. I love that there was no difference in her little mind…and I hope and pray that one day that will characterize the rest of our country.