Today Fudge had a day off from school and one of our first activities of the day was to go vote. I've been taking Fudge to the polls with me for every election since he was born, but it was not until today that he has had some thoughtful questions around the entire process, such as why do we vote? When I explained what/who we are voting for and that voting is a right we exercise, he still wasn't really getting what the big deal was. When I told him women used to not be able to vote, he had an incredulous look on his face. He said, "Well that's just STUPID. Sorry Mom, I know I'm not suppoosed to say 'stupid' but that is 'stupid'- women are people, why couldn't they vote?" He didn't follow much more I had to say about the 19th Amendment, except that it was passed around the time his great-grandmother was born, which he thought was crazy, that women haven't always been allowed to vote. It really rocked his world when I explained the 15th Amendment, and I didn't even get into poll taxes and literacy tests. Fudge's response was "What's wrong with people- why wouldn't they let brown people vote?" I love how kids at this age view the world, not based on skin color, social status, salary, religion, etc. I hope Fudge holds onto this view- I wish more of us did so as adults. When I was recapping the conversation for the Hubs last night, he said, "wait 'til he learns blacks were only counted as 3/5s of a person." Not ready to expose him to even more ugliness of our history yet, but it's coming.So today, I am thankful for the right to vote, even when it comes with a slew of annoying political ads and phone calls.
No comments:
Post a Comment