Jacob:
Mom, can I go to after school program next Monday?
Me:
Do you mean Tuesday? Monday is a holiday.
Megan:
Yeah Jacob, its Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jacob:
What's that?
Megan:
Martin Luther King Jr. made people realize that black people were no different than white people. A long time ago, black kids couldn't go to the same schools, they couldn't use the same bathrooms and they had to ride in the back of the bus. White kids couldn't even talk to black kids.
(Jacob had a complete look of bewilderment at this point)
Me:
Yeah, we were pretty stupid back then, huh? People were really mean to black people and didn't let them do the same things. They could do the same things but they couldn't do them with white people. They had to go to their own schools, their own churches and their own bathrooms. It was equal but separate. MLK made it so everyone gained civil rights. That's when everyone, no matter what, has the right to basic things like education and marriage.
Megan:
Yeah, and a lot of people didn't want that, so then they shot and killed him and he died.
(She then went into detail about when and where this happened)
People were so dumb back then.
Me:
Yeah, but think about what is going on today. Are there any types of people that we treat that way today?
(Megan is thinking.....)
Me:
Think about what I told you about gay people. Do you remember how a lot of people voted to keep them from getting married or from adopting kids? Wouldn't it suck if you were a kid who did not have parents and wanted to be adopted? Wouldn't you rather have two moms or two dads than no mom or dad? We just replaced one group of people to pick with another group, right?
Megan agreed and became somewhat silent. I could tell that I had inspired a deeper thought and she was evaluating what I had told her. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she spent the rest of the day thinking about what I had said.
That being said, isn't it significant that we are getting our first black president the day after MLK day? Lets cross our fingers and hope hes better than our last president. Lets be realistic though, a trained monkey could outperform Bush.
Mom, can I go to after school program next Monday?
Me:
Do you mean Tuesday? Monday is a holiday.
Megan:
Yeah Jacob, its Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jacob:
What's that?
Megan:
Martin Luther King Jr. made people realize that black people were no different than white people. A long time ago, black kids couldn't go to the same schools, they couldn't use the same bathrooms and they had to ride in the back of the bus. White kids couldn't even talk to black kids.
(Jacob had a complete look of bewilderment at this point)
Me:
Yeah, we were pretty stupid back then, huh? People were really mean to black people and didn't let them do the same things. They could do the same things but they couldn't do them with white people. They had to go to their own schools, their own churches and their own bathrooms. It was equal but separate. MLK made it so everyone gained civil rights. That's when everyone, no matter what, has the right to basic things like education and marriage.
Megan:
Yeah, and a lot of people didn't want that, so then they shot and killed him and he died.
(She then went into detail about when and where this happened)
People were so dumb back then.
Me:
Yeah, but think about what is going on today. Are there any types of people that we treat that way today?
(Megan is thinking.....)
Me:
Think about what I told you about gay people. Do you remember how a lot of people voted to keep them from getting married or from adopting kids? Wouldn't it suck if you were a kid who did not have parents and wanted to be adopted? Wouldn't you rather have two moms or two dads than no mom or dad? We just replaced one group of people to pick with another group, right?
Megan agreed and became somewhat silent. I could tell that I had inspired a deeper thought and she was evaluating what I had told her. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she spent the rest of the day thinking about what I had said.
That being said, isn't it significant that we are getting our first black president the day after MLK day? Lets cross our fingers and hope hes better than our last president. Lets be realistic though, a trained monkey could outperform Bush.
It is very frustrating that the religious right wants to relegate gay people to second-class citizenship status. At least our children aren't growing up learning that is acceptable.
ReplyDeleteIn 50 years society will look back on California's Prop 8 time with shame, the same way we look back at segregation. Sure there will still be those with bigoted beliefs towards gay people. Just like there are still people who hate black people and call them unspeakable names. However, they will be the minority. It isn't as though Prop 8 passed with a massive majority - 52% to 48%.
Thankfully there have been, and will be, great people like Martin Luther King with the willingness to stand up for what is right.