Your Shoes, My Shoes

Your shoes, my shoes, done walked a mile or two
Your shoes, my shoes, done all that shoes can do

They walked with Rosa to the front of the bus
The walked with Martin when he prayed for us
They walked with me, they walked with you
They've done all that shoes can do

Lines from yet another Tom Paxton song that's been playing in the car of late. A peppy tune, fun to sing, with a meaning too deep to discuss with my boys.

Or not.

Jake slid into the kitchen tonight, came up behind me, and said with an innocent voice, "Mommy, I know what the Ku Klux Klan was."

I spun around in my office chair, as casually as one can when one's 8 year old enters the room talking about the KKK.

"Hmmm. What do you know about the Ku Klux Klan?" I asked, as I made my way to the kitchen table and motioned for him to join me.

"They wore costumes and marched around and if they saw a black person, they killed him. They were bad."

And so it began. A short 'chat' about the KKK, who they are (not were), what they did and what they do, what they and others believe. We talked about the fact that the KKK would prefer that he and his best friend Brandon not be friends. We talked about their 'costumes' (which he admitted he thought were cool and reminded him of Star Wars) and cowardice.

I asked how this came up - apparently they were mentioned in a book at school. They've been discussing Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks, and George Washington Carver.

I sang the song he's been hearing in the car the past few weeks, and he lit up with recognition. "Oh, that's who he's talking about."

I tried my best to keep tears from falling as I talked about the bravery of Rosa and MLK and others. When we were done, I shooed him upstairs to watch TV with his dad. A little Spongebob to lighten the mood.

And then I stepped out onto the deck and let those tears flow. Tears for all the crappy things people in this world do to each other. Tears of awe and admiration for people so brave and willing to stand up to it all.

Tears for the fact that, too soon, Jake will learn about the evil that is out there.