At the Glom, we never know what posts will strike a chord, positive or negative, with readers. I have to admit I was surprised when a post I wrote last year on MLK day got linked on blog after blog. Although I feel a little strange block quoting myself, I thought I would re-post:
If you want a reminder of how far our society has come in the last 40 years, try explaining the impact of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement to a 5 1/2 year-old. As I explained to Carter how, in the year that my sister was born, she could not have taken swimming lessons with her friend Cassidy, or gone to the same school as her friend Cade, she looked at me and said, "You're joking." When I went on to explain to her segregated bathrooms, segregated water fountains, and struggles to vote, she was completely taken aback. I will be the first to admit that we do not live in a color-blind society, but my daughter's incredulousness at daily life in 1964 has to be a sign of progress.
So, this makes me wonder what views are held by a majority of the population today that will be inconceivable to a kindergartener 40 years from now?
Happy MLK Day!
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1. Posted by David Rosenberg on January 17, 2006 @ 8:45 | Permalink
I was recently talking to my 9-year-old son about the civil rights movement and I asked him just that question: what kinds of thing do people accept today that will seem outrageous when you are my age? His answer: "Driving an SUV."
DR
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