Inauguration at lunch

The girls and I were at a restaurant today; it was a TVs-all-over kind of place, and every set had the inauguration on. I've never seen a restaurant like that be so quiet.

We were seated during Obama's speech. We didn't pay that much attention; they weren't that interested in the content, and I didn't want to hear or dwell on how much government intervention was in the works, how much more I was going to have to pay to fix the auto industry or the health care industry or whatever industry.

But, people near us were talking about the "first black guy to be president," and as I figured the girls were going to hear about this sooner or later, I decided to use the occasion casually to introduce the idea. We don't think of people in terms of race, David and I don't use "race words" to designate groups of people, because it has become anachronistic and, rather than being useful, it gets in the way of actual meaningful ideas about who individuals are. And so, the girls do not see people in terms of their physical characteristics; they really don't notice what people look like at all, unless they're thinking of how well someone's skin and hair color blends with what they have on (like when we're watching What Not To Wear). They certainly don't think of themselves as "white" -- when they find out that some people think this is meaningful, they're going to be surprised.

So, they're naive, and properly so, I think, when it comes to this issue. But I figured I'd rather be the one to float the idea than someone else, who wouldn't know their context. So, while we were munching away, I said,

"You know, some people are making a fuss because Obama is the first U.S. President to have dark skin."

"Why?" said Madison, mildly interested.

"Well, people like 'firsts.' I guess it's the same kind of fuss that people will make when the first woman becomes President."

"Well, even I might make a fuss about that," said Madison.

"Why?" I asked.

"Hmm. I don't know," she said.

And that was that. The exact right level of discussion, I think.