Election

So, I should have written about this yesterday, but I kind of needed a day to decompress.

As I mentioned, we were supposed to do science for the last part of the day on Wednesday - I had an awesome hands-on (rather, materials-based) lesson planned, and I'm sad that it got scrapped. Instead, Mrs. C let me talk to the kids about the election for the last 20 minutes of the day.

Whoa.

They were so into it. They were all involved, they were all listening, they all had so much that they wanted to say about what they saw on TV, about their parents reactions, about what they were hoping for and excited about and how they felt. They may not grasp the full magnitude of what happened on Tuesday, but they are definitely listening and watching and aware that this is a big deal.

Els made a great comment - "I listened to both John McCain and Barack Obama talk last night, and I think they both did a really good job. McCain has a lot of experience, and he is a really good leader even though he did not win. I hope that Obama asks him to help him run the country now that he is president. It would be really good if they could work together, they both have good ideas and are good people, even though their campaigns said mean things before the election." She has been thinking very seriously about the election and I think she is very interested in politics and current events in general. She and I have had a couple conversations about the election, and I love what she has to say.

Els is right - and I really tried to emphasize this to the kids. No matter who you supported, no matter who your parents supported, now we need to work together to fix the things about our country that are broken. Both sides have good ideas and good leaders and Democrats and Republicans need to work together - fighting just hurts everyone.

Kal said, "I think this is really important because we've never had a black person as President before."

I tried to help them understand that what Kal had said was incredibly important. They get so little social studies, and they really have no concept of the fight for civil rights. I told them that only 40, 50 years ago, when my parents were kids, black people weren't even allowed to vote. And black children and white children couldn't go to school together. They couldn't use the same bathrooms, or the same drinking fountains, or the same entrances to hospitals, or sit in the same area on the bus.

Cam asked, "Wasn't slavery a really long time ago though?" ... Yes. Yes it was. And between when slavery ended, and when black people got the right to vote, there were 100 years where black people had very few rights and were considered second class citizens - and a lot of people, including Dr. Martin Luther King (who they've mostly heard about) fought long and hard for black people to have the rights that they deserve.

I tried to explain this to them, and they were shocked. Reb said, "Really? Black kids couldn't use the same DRINKING FOUNTAIN???" Yes. Yes. Horrible, and now, so hard to believe. In 50 years, we've come so far - we have a black president. Talk about CHANGE.

My eyes welled up with tears talking to them about this. Dem said, "Ms. Gallagher, are you CRYING?" Yes Dem. Yes I am. This is a huge deal, I am so proud to be an American, I am so proud of our country and of the change that is possible here. You can be anything. You can DO anything with your life. And I hope you change the world.