Yesterday, the girl child comes home with the requisite Martin Luther King, Jr. All-about-me!-type book.
(Note: Before I get called out for not recognizing the sanctity of this day, let me just say that I think Martin Luther King, Jr. did a lot of great things while he was alive, not only for African Americans, but for the country as a whole. That being said, he was just a man. I got very disturbed when both of children, while in the first grade, watched a video that indicated that Martin Luther King, Jr. was sitting up in Heaven, apparently right next to Jesus, on a throne, looking down upon the world in some sort of blessed observation. Um, no. He was a man. A good man, but not a perfect man. A man who did a lot for this country, but not on the same level as Jesus. No one is. Okay? Clear on that?)
Anyway, my daughter had dutifully colored in each picture and written her engaging commentary on each page. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a lovely chocolate color in each drawing. One page showed him and his wife and I noticed that Girlchild had not colored his wife in. I asked her about it and she said, “I didn’t know what color she was, so I left her blank.”
I told her I didn’t think that when he was alive it was even legal for black people to marry people of other colors and her face contorted in horror. Our next door neighbors are a white woman and a black man and they have a beautiful little son and that is her frame of reference. They are just our neighbors, not an interracial couple.
At the end there was a question: Do you think if Martin Luther King, Jr. was alive he would be happy with the way the world is today? Why or why not?
In my daughter’s childish handwriting was written: Martin would be happy because the world is a beautiful, wonderful place full of love.
Oh, to be eight years old and have no concept of hate and war and even the jerks who live up the street who call your mom “fat-ass”.
I like the way that kid thinks.
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11 comments:
She will one day be my daughter-in-law...and I will cherish her.
Isn't it amazing what your kids teach you?
Just amazing to me.
Good gravy your children are amazing. We all know this yet they never stop showing it.
She's good people. You're double good people for making her that way. And making her brother that way too. Cod almighty I'm in awe of you.
Additionally...OMG! MLKjr on a throne next to Jesus? GOLLY! The Bible sure needs an update!
More often than not, children are a direct reflection of their parents.
You have done well, my funny little friend.
Didn't he cheat on his wife? An amazing man he may have been but my respect for him dropped a bit when I heard that.
I wonder, when exactly do we lose that innocence? When is it that we figure out just how horrible and ugly the world can be? I need to be prepared to sheild my babies for as long as possible.
Emma: Yes, he did.
And mine did too.
"And mine did too"
Meaning my respect level.
Not that my husband cheated on me.
GAH.
(Just to clarify.)
The jerk up the steet called you a fat-ass? WHAAAT?!
Kids are precious and so innocent. I love it.
Oh, not only does he call me that, he STANDS IN THE STREET screaming it to the whole neighborhood.
He's a bit of a stupid drunk. In case it's not obvious.
Yeah, I wondered. But I was thinking you meant the first one.
E learned about MLK Jr in school too. She couldn't quite get his name right so she spent all day asking questions about King Tim the Junior!
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