History

Dear Katie & Jackson,

One day, a long time from now, I will tell you about the way life used to be for me. I will tell you about growing up in the South, and how people hated others for their race and sometimes even their religion. I will tell you how I saw it happen, with my very own eyes. And once I even saw some people turn the hate right back on a person and shun them for their racism. It was pretty powerful. Maybe I'll tell you about my parents and how even they held beliefs that you might consider ignorant and archaic.

My hope is that when I tell you these things, you'll stare at me with wide-eyed wonder and surprise. Kind of like I used to stare at my parents when they told me about their lives without television. I'd scoff at them, hardly believing their descriptions of life before TV. Maybe you'll scoff at me when I tell you how someone was ostracized for being friends with a person of another race, or hated for daring to (gasp!) like someone of another race.

Today is a day you won't remember. Katie, you may have a flash of memory about today, but Jackson won't remember it at all. God, I hope and pray that you won't remember today, that it won't be much more than a blip on your radar screen in years to come. And here's why: I hope that the celebration of today, the inauguration of our first black president, becomes commonplace for our country. As shocking and appalling as that thought might seem to some people who are so incredibly PUMPED that today has finally arrived, I am hoping that it will be nothing big or special when you grow older. Because I'm hoping that a day like today will help racism become a thing of the past, and will help our country move deeper. My dream for you and your generation is that you'll be able to look beyond a person's outer shell and see what lies inside of them. I dream that not only for you, but for my grandkids too.

Katie, last week you told me about Martin Luther King, Jr. and said to me, "Mommy, did you know that some people used to not like brown people?" It was a confusing concept to you. For that, I am grateful. I pray that it continues to confuse you, and that you'll never fall into that trap of hate. Look deeply, learn compassion, and practice generosity. Let January 20, 2009 be a day of new beginnings for us all.

Love,
Mommy