So it is real. Barack Obama will be our next president. I was so happy this morning when I saw the cover of the newspaper.
I went to school with a spring in my step and hope for the future. One of my boys came skipping in smiling ( Megan knows which boy- the one she thought was adorable) He immediately asked me if I had heard that Obama won. I laughed and said no I had not heard that. Then he laughed and said I know you did! It was cute. So half the class was excited and half was disappointed. I have not voiced any opinion either way. They do not know who I voted for- only that I am happy it is over. And so it happened that before the bell even rang I had students in tears. One of the kids had said that Obama is a muslim and that muslims kill people. another said that Obama wants to kill babies and a girl told a boy whose father was a marine that his dad kills people. So rather than being able to highlight the historic moment of having the first African American president and talking about how anyone in America could become president I had to focus on the need for understanding and tolerance. Once everyone was calmed down we went on with our school day. After school I talked with a few of the parents about what their kids had said. The principal offered to come and talk to my class, but we decided it would be better to have Father Michael come. He will be in my room next Friday talking about tolerance and other faiths. Kids are the future and usually I am surprised by their insight and kindness, but today was a rough one for me. To come to work with such hope for the future and then to have my students saying such hurtful things to each other was hard. Although we have come a long way, we still have work do to and it will not be easy. Already people are praying that Obama does in fact become president and that he is not assassinated. There have already been death threats and in Portland there was a cardboard cut out of Obama hanging from a tree on a college campus. I hope that we can live up to the promise of the future, that we can end the divisions and come together as Barack said in his speech last night that we are more than red or blue states, that we are the United States and yes we can. We have no other choice.
The above photos are;
The alleyway in which Barack Obama spent his first night in NYC. He later washed up with a homeless man at a hydrant. The alley will surely become a historic site with a plaque stating Barack Obama slept here.
The crowd to see Obama in Chicago
A political button available in Texas.
Surely our country has come a long way..... but there still is work to do.
