Obama -- "He's Brown"

Can a 6-year-old vote for President of the United States?

My son did. I picked him up from school yesterday to see an "I Voted" sticker prominently displayed on his little blue shirt.

Now, there hasn't been much talk one way or the other in my home about the Presidential candidates. I am an Independent and was undecided until the end, so I voiced no opinion.

My son however, came out of his 1st Grade class saying, "If Obama loses, I am SO kicking John McCain's butt!"

I about fell over laughing. Good thing Obama won. He just saved McCain from a 6-year-old, yellow-belt, plastic-light-saber butt-whoopin'.

"You voted for Obama, did you?" I asked.

He replied, "Yes I did. He won in my class. Ten votes for Obama, 5 for McCain. I like Obama."

"Why do you like Obama?" I asked.

"I just like him. He seems nice. I like his name. It's fresh."
(It's fresh. OMG -- I love this kid!)

Trying desperately to keep a straight face, I asked, "You like the way his name sounds, do you? Barack Obama -- it's hip?"

"Yeah," he said.

"I agree, it's a cool name. It's got a good sound to it." (We're very much into the way things sound and feel over here, creative freaks that we are...)

"Yes," he continued, "I don't like John McCain. He's old and sour. Yeck!" (I swear to you, this was the actual conversation. I am not making this up. This is why I write non-fiction.)

I told him I know some people who feel exactly the same, but I also know people who really like McCain, and that's okay too. Then we left so I could vote.

After weighing everything I'd learned in the past several months, I felt that my ballot was best cast for Obama. Change won out, particularly regarding education and health care, and I hoped to see history in the making.

My son was thrilled to no end with my vote. So was my 11-year-old daughter, who had an amazing grasp on the effect an African-American President will have on children of the same race, and on children in general. So she broke into song with:

"My Mama -- My Mama -- She vo-ted for O-bama!" over and over. (Have I mentioned that I love my kids?) They both went to bed dying to know who would become our next President.

When I woke my son for school this morning, I said with a big smile, “Obama won!”

He sat up and hollered, “YAY!!”

And then he said, very matter-of-factly, “He’s brown.”

I said, “Yes he is, baby. Yes he is.”

You see, my kids weren’t raised to know the terms “black” and “white” with regard to people. The kid with the brown skin is no different from the kid with the blue eyes, or the tall kid, or the short kid, or the round kid. It’s irrelevant. My daughter heard the terms in school as she got older, and we discussed it. But the words hold no meaning for us because that’s not how we see people. We look at a person's heart. If we require an adjective for skin tone, my son is correct, the more accurate color here is brown.

Barack Obama is brown. And capable. And intelligent. And inspiring. And President. And he just showed us all that there are no limits but those we set for ourselves. I love that.

As my son climbed down out his loft bed, he added, “And his hair is brown, too.”

It sure is, buddy, it sure is.

I am so proud of America today -- for looking beneath the surface, for voting for change, and for making history -- that I am simply beside myself! I laughed. I cried. I am filled with hope. We just changed the world.

And that’s cool in every color.