The Indoctrination Starts Early: A Conversation with a Fifth Grader

"Mommy?"

"What, son?"

"Why can't brown people be president?"

"Huh? Brown people can be president. Who told you they couldn't?"

"My teacher said this is the first time we can elect a brown person as president."

"Well, that's not exactly true, son. Brown people have run for president before. But to become president, you have to get most of the people to vote for you and that hasn't happened before." (Aside: I'm not getting into the nuances of the electoral college with a 10-year-old).

"Why didn't people want to elect a brown person? That doesn't seem fair."

"Honey, we don't elect people based on the color of their skin. We listen to their policies, look at what they've done with their lives and what they say they'll do. Then we decide which person we think will do the best job."

"My teacher says this is a historic election because we can elect a brown person."

"Did your teacher tell you that it's a historic election because you could elect a woman to vice president?"

*puzzled look* "No. What's the big deal about that?"

*sigh* "Right, son. What's the big deal about that."