I haven’t much time but I wanted to wedge in one last word about today’s election. It’s raining, and I’m off to work my polling place for a few hours. I took Bird and Deal with me to vote this morning. Bird just so happens to have third grade CogAt testing today so I let him fill in the circles on my ballot to practice the whole fill in the dot thing. Our yard has been peppered with candidate signs for weeks, and we talk at length about this election and why it matters so much to us. Mac Daddy kissed us all early this morning as he slid out the door to vote before work. My sons know about the right to vote, the privilege to vote, and the duty to vote. I tell them that it’s simply irresponsible not to vote. They’re down with that.
A friend told me about a conversation she had with a neighbor recently. They were chatting about the oft chided Wake County school board, and this gentleman told her he doesn’t care about schools because his daughter isn’t in school yet. That’s like me saying I don’t care about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because no one in my family is a soldier. It’s bullshit. It’s a cop out. And it’s irresponsible. Schools matter to us all. I realize I sound like a magpie, but I can’t reiterate that enough. The guy went on to say he doesn’t care about high poverty schools. I believe his exact words were, “Not my problem.”
Picture my eyes jumping out of their sockets and my jaw dropped to my breastbone.
This mentality is precisely what has driven our country, our county, and our community apart. You see, high poverty schools are our problem. If we don’t educate our whole community, we will pay for it in terms of crime, public assistance, insecurity, joblessness, homelessness, and just pure guilt as human beings not caring for others. These are children we’re talking about, people. Children. How can people be so callous and hateful towards children? It’s shameful really. And it’s time we combat that. We are hungry for leadership that supports our whole community, not just the squeaky wheels (that just so happen to be white and wealthy).
Go vote today and think of all the children in our community, not just your own.