Just can't quit on the election

Maybe we haven't come as far as I thought.

A friend is student-teaching in a 4th grade class in a neighboring town (in Georgia). A little boy came to her and told her he was "afraid". She, of course, asked why. He replied that his mother had told him that if Obama was elected, the blacks would come and kick their doors in.

Remember the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from South Pacific? It was true when it was written 50 years ago, and unfortunately, it's still true.

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

-------------------------------

Morning Edition on NPR repeated this text message:
"Rosa sat so Martin could march.
Martin marched so Barack could run."

----------------------------

And we're not even through with election ads on TV. The two candidates in the run-off race for the Senate in GA (on 2 December) are advertising heavily on our stations.

----------------------

One more editorial cartoon worth sharing - this one from Mike Luckovich.