The Mind Of An 8 Year Old (Get Ready To Smile And Be Inspired!)

[Yes We Did]

My mother called me up today... for the 5th time, because she wanted to tell me what my 8 year old sister thought about the presidential race.

The TV was on some cable news channel and they were discussing everything, showing all the candidates and such, when Autumn, (my sister) asked my mom who her dad was voting for.

My mom told her "He's voting for the old man." A minute or so later, Autumn asked my mom who she was voting for. She told her that she voted for Hillary.

Autumn watched for a bit longer and told my mom that she decided that she was going to vote for "the guy with the dark hair" because he looked like her dad.

Now, it should be said that her dad is Italian, and our mom is pastey white and they live in a semi-rural area and have absolutely no friends that are african american, hispanic or arabic...

So, I just found it amazing that an 8 year old child raised in an almost all white world would pick a candidate that was african american, and not even see skin color; just see that his hair was dark like her daddy's.

(Please, try to keep this polite. This is meant to be a nice friendly happy post and I would like to keep it that way.)

I just found that so beautiful and had to share it with you.

See, there is hope for this country. It just goes to prove that one day racism might become a thing of the past. Maybe we should start letting our children tell us who to vote for.

Oh, here she is in a cute little anti-bush video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c00iO_AbPF4

[DemVet]

1. Yeah, let your kid decide things for you.

:eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

2. Cue Hopeless brigade - stage left!

EDIT: Clarified.

[grantcart]

52. and that is the wonderful world of ignore - I have no idea what kind of turd he left

[Egnever]

3. Dick comes to mind

Like cheney!

[Yes We Did]

4. That is so rude. If that is all you took from that post, then I feel very sorry for you.

It really shows what kind of person you must be.

[Danger Mouse]

13. it's alright, just consider the source.

i loved your op. :hi:

[Yes We Did]

18. Thank You very much.

I was just a little stunned by the comment. I mean... the very first comment?!

Oh well, I don't care. It must be very sad to think like that. Glad it's not me.

[Danger Mouse]

19. Oh, believe me, the poster in question is one of the nastiest on GD: P.

That level of drooling insanity is about the best it can offer.

[Yes We Did]

21. LOL. There are quite a few on here today.

Really makes me wonder how many of them are really democrats.

[scheming daemons]

50. The poster is one of the most vitriolic and nasty on GDP...in other words, much like a Republican

[yourguide]

5. As usual, a bunch of sour grapes from the hillbots...

[Nine]

23. Well I'm a "hillbot" and I was about to post something very nice.

But forget it. I wouldn't take a single Obama supporter's post and apply it to his entire camp of supporters and I don't see why you need to do that based on a single post either. And incidentally I don't think your sig pic reflects the high moral ground either, but I'll save that for another thread.

[Danger Mouse]

24. i was going to say, that lumping 'DemVet' in with all HRC supporters in unfair.

an entire group of people shouldn't be judged on the worst of them.

[yourguide]

26. No, Hillbots are a different breed than HRC supporters

Just like the Obamabots...it comes down to thinking for yourself. There was no good reason for demvet to post what he did other than being a bot.

I stand by my assessment of demvet as a hillbot.

I also make the distinction between the bots and the supporters on both sides.

[Danger Mouse]

27. the difficulty in making that distinction is that a lot of posters who say 'obamabot' or 'hillbot'..

do NOT make a distinction. they just lump ALL supporters under those labels.

[yourguide]

29. but all supporters are not bots

bots suggests either one is a robot, or programmed. That's how I use bot.

So again for the record, I make the distinction.

[Yes We Did]

34. You know how you can tell?

"Bots" use nothing but talking points for their candidate and NEVER EVER admit that their candidate has made a mistake. This happens on both sides. And people who are not "Bots" are willing to admit when their candidate screws up.

Not to mention, non-bots post original threads; not just cut and past.

[yourguide]

39. Correct.

[yourguide]

25. If you were going to post something nice...

then you're not a bot. You're not programmed in terms of crapping on every positive thing that an obama supporter has to say.

So Nine, for the record, all of the hillary supporters on this board are not bots. You are not a bot, you obviously think for yourself and I applaud you for it.

[Yes We Did]

31. Well, since I don't use "hillbot" or anything like that...

How about you still post something nice. I get along quite well with all but a few Hillary supporters. I don't call names and I try to keep my posts clean.

If you don't like what my fellow Obama supporters say, then prove them wrong and say something nice.

[Danger Mouse]

6. first post, and you completely ignore the 'keep this nice and polite'...

and piss on a positive thread.
congratulations, you fail.

[iamjoy]

10. Oh, Lighten Up!

A co-worker asked her 5 year old niece who she wanted to be President and the niece said, "the girl." When they told her Hillary won Pennsylvania, the niece asked, "did she get a trophy?"

Kids don't vote, but some of their perspectives are interesting.

[RazBerryBeret]

38. why ARE you so nasty?

if you love fly fishing, art and photography, and play guitar– one would think you'd be a whole lot more mellow. (just asking)

[Leftist Agitator]

44. Wow, way to piss on someone's cornflakes.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

[roguevalley]

48. kids have to be taught how to hate. this girl is a priceless little soul

[DearAbby]

7. Proves Racism is a learned behavior

what a darling/hopeful response.

[Yes We Did]

8. Yeah, and she's a darling herself. I just....

ordered her a new webkin off amazon today. Going to visit them in a couple weeks. She does'nt know.

Our mom is gonna keep her out of school for the day so she can see me arrive on the train. She loves trains.

[Window]

9. Very nice indeed. Thanks for sharing.

O8) Kids are precious.

[Danger Mouse]

11. let me tell you a story of my own...

i am a sunday school teacher.
i was doing a lesson with my students (4 girls that sunday, ages 10-13), and was talking about Jesus reaching out to a Samaritan woman who had been divorced several times, which was a HUGE taboo for his time, and how we should follow Jesus' example in reaching out to people that are oppressed or put down.
So I asked my students to make drawings showing a group of people, or something of the like, that were being discriminated against.
My little sister, 11, drew a picture of our cousin, who is gay, and his partner. They were crying in the picture, she said, because they can't marry each other.
One of the other girls just couldn't understand why gays aren't allowed to marry, and who could possibly be against people being with the ones they love.
I can't tell you how moving it was for me. Kids get it so much better than most of us adults do.
There really is hope for this generation, isn't there?

[Yes We Did]

15. Yes there really is.

That is what IS great about this country; it's abuility to grow and evolve when it comes to civil issues.

Children aren't stupid. They know what's going on a lot sooner than we give them credit for.

[Danger Mouse]

17. I, for one, do my best to teach love and tolerance to my students...

but i think they're already getting that lesson at home.
fred phelps and scum like him are dinosaurs.

[Yes We Did]

22. I can't wait to go see her.

I only get back home a few times a year. I went from seeing her every day to... well, a few times a year.

I gotta get her a webcam and set her up with an instant messenger.

[asjr]

12. Out of the mouths of babes.

[stellanoir]

14. It's remarkable how man operatives have been convinced by their kids to go for Obama.

They recognize his refreshing honesty.

The other candidates simply don't have it.

The kids know that.

[Yes We Did]

59. What's really funny is the neither our mom or her dad voted for Obama in the primary.

Well, they would have had to vote for "uncommitted" but still...

[lojasmo]

16. I swear my 11 year old son is (race) colorblind. Cute story. EOM

[Yes We Did]

20. Children are the absolute best, and at that age the most honest.

[klebean]

28. My son

Now 20 (and a very cool person) went to a magnate elementary school here in SoCal premised on cultural diversity; as a
white kid (who also came from a preschool premised on the same value) he was easily admitted (I feel I shouldn't have
to say so, but fyi - Los Angeles does not have a white majority). He has grown up color blind, however I noted a few
times when he was taken aback by all the white people when we visited relatives in different states...he thought it strange.
IOWs - not normal.

[Yes We Did]

33. Where I grew up there were NO african americans. NONE.

There were native americans and white people. That's it.

I don't know how long you've been here, but I told my story a while back about how I had just found out my father was a racist.

It amazes me how different we are. I haven't spoken to him since I found out, and he found out my g/f was AA.

So, I look to the next generation (my sister is 21 years younger than me) with great optimism. Maybe, just maybe my parents' generation will be the last one to be racist.

Just maybe.

[Harry Monroe]

30. Thanks for posting this

Children aren't born bigoted, they learn it from their elders.

[Yes We Did]

32. Thank YOU for reading it.

[applegrove]

35. Don't forget to write these stories of her childhood down. Get a little

book and write down the quotes. You'll value it in a few years.

[Yes We Did]

36. Thanks for the idea. I'll put in on the computer.

I've got folder after folder of pictures.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

53. Another idea

My parents turned on a tape recorder and let us kids say, sing, do anything we wanted to. Those tapes have become treasures to all of us, including our own kids. Of course,it was the 70's and it was one of those big bulky tape recorders!:rofl:

I guess I should take my own advice! Gotta do a 21st century recording of my own kids!

[applegrove]

54. My parents did the same with one tape. It is really cute.

[Psst_Im_Not_Here]

55. It's really fun to listen to those tapes with the kids

Watching their faces listening to me and my siblings singing and telling stories as kids ourselves is fun. Hearing us singing "Jesus Loves Me" and saying that's me when I was 5! They look at us through different eyes, realizing that yes, their parents were once little kids too! Such a treasure. Then you turn to your parents and see them looking at you like they did when you were little is an amazing experience as well. Tapes like those are a treasure to 3 generations!

Gotta get on it, my kids are getting older and I need to "interview" them for thier kids. Mine are teenagers now, but, I think their hopes, dreams and ideas need to be recorded for posterity.

[RazBerryBeret]

37. awesome story

and Autumn is such a pretty name.

I have two sons, I tried hard to raise them without the "labels" it only lasted till first grade...but before that if they were describing people they were either "a little darker" or a "little lighter" or "darker"...it was kind of interesting.

[GetTheRightVote]

40. Yes, you start to notice the similar and not the differences, it is real

what the little 8 year child can teach the world around her....thanks for sharing.

[Yes We Did]

58. Happy to do it.

[Asgaya Dihi]

41. I upvoted this thread a couple of hours ago

I'm disappointed that it hasn't got more recs. That was a nice story and I'm glad you shared it with us.

[TexasLady]

42. awe that is SO sweet.

Dont you love the innocence of children?

Did you know that while living in probably the reddest county in one of the reddest states..my daughter's third grade class took a vote..and Obama and Hillary beat McCain handily? two little boys voted for him.

SO I ask..are these kids paying attention? Are they voting as their parents would? I live 45 minutes from Bush's ranch...it's Bush country alright...

Thanks for sharing your story.. We know the common enemy..Bush/McCain...:puke:

[Leftist Agitator]

43. I used to live in Miami...

And one of my very good friends, Jose, has a daughter who was six at the time. He is Puerto Rican, her mother is Nicaraguan, so their daughter's skin tone was a medium brown.

Anyway, he invited me to go to the park in our neighborhood of Little Haiti with he and his daughter, and when we arrived, there were a bunch of the cutest little Haitian girls and boys playing games, and having a ball. Jose let his daughter go off and play with the other kids. About ten minutes later, one of the Haitian girls walks up to her mother, telling her about all the fun she was having with her new friend. Mom asked her daughter, "Which new friend is that?"

And she answered "The girl in the Dora the Explorer shirt!"

Now I'm not racist in the least, but I felt deeply ashamed at my initial reaction, and humbled by the innocence and purity of that child, because you see, I had thought she would tell her Mom "The girl with the light skin." I looked into that crowd of kids, and I saw that one was a of a different skin color than the rest of them. I foolishly, and sadly assumed that those wonderful kids would see things in the jaded way that I, and nearly every other adult does.

The moral of the story: Racism is learned. It can be unlearned.

[Yes We Did]

56. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for your honesty.

I don't think you have anything to be ashamed of though, not if you look at as a learning experience.

None of us were raised to be completely colorblind; as it takes more than parents to raise a child; it takes a community.

And depsite the efforts of parents, no matter how wonderful they may be, if the community has bigotted people in it, then children will eventually be exposed to it.

Autumn USED to hang out with this little girl whose parents dropped the N-bomb all over the place. Her parents didn't know it was going on until one day when she called her father it. He asked her what it meant and she didn't know.

They told her not to say it anymore because it was a very mean thing to say, and she hasn't said it since. Nor has she hung out with the little girl since.

It's efforts like that which will change this country. So, don't be ashamed for how you felt. It is obvious you don't feel that way now.

[bonito]

45. Sweet story, I can relate

Didn't know my grandfather was black till my 50s, till a friend pointed it out to me, we were very close I never thought of him as a color, oh sure there were comments and stories that seemed insignificant to me growing up because our relationship was much bigger than that, funny that but true.
Shepard Robert Armstrong was his name I will never forget him.

[Cha]

46. Totally sweet and poignant

..Autumn apparently knows more as a child than her parents have taken years to come up with.

[wellstone dem]

47. And the other part of the story I like

is that here is a young woman who has learned to think for herself. Well done to her mom and dad and sibling.

[Yes We Did]

57. Well let me tell ya, she's been thinking for herself since she was born.

We used to call her Musilini when she was a baby, and not much has changed.

I think my mother looks forward to my visits mostly because when I go back home Autumn is a complete angel for the entire time.

[Jamastiene]

49. Awww,

that sounds like a good kid. :thumbsup:

[Onlooker]

51. Psychologists say that kids are colorblind in terms of race until about 9 years old

Their minds aren't developed enough until then to comprehend the idea of racism. In other words, the eight year old in his ignorance is more intelligent than a lot of adults.