Election lesson

As I was picking Mimi up from school today we had an interesting political conversation. Her second grade teacher apparently discussed the election and voting with the class today, because she asked me who I was voting for. This is how she phrased it:"Are you voting for the dark skinned man or the light skinned man?" (!) After my start of surprise, I explained that I had already voted (gotta love early voting!), and that I had not voted for Mr. Obama. She clarified, "Is he the dark skinned one? Why don't you want a dark-skinned president?" I was floored.

One day while making applesauce, Daddy-O came home from work for lunch and turned on Rush radio. At that time I wasn't listening very much, but caught his (I thought) satirical reference to "people who don't vote for Barak are racist". But apparently people really think that!?

I explained to Mimi that I don't care what color someone's skin is. I vote for whomever I think will make the best decisions to make our country a better place. I don't vote for or against someone based on the color of their skin, or their religion for that matter. Those things should never be an issue in a political race. I also said that I don't think the person I voted for has all the right answers for our country, but that I think he will do a better job than the others running...she was then surprised that there were more than two people running for the office of President of the US.

I'm glad that the elementary students are learning about voting and the election process, but I hope that we can all help our kids understand how we make our decisions on whom we vote for.