Where Have All the White People Gone?

So Newt and Elfie have taken a sudden interest in politics (I have no idea how that happened), and the stuff that’s been coming out of their mouths lately has been, well, enlightening. The other day, Elfie made a rather astute observation about Republicans and evil aliens. Apparently now it’s Newt’s turn.

Yesterday, we were watching the president’s speech on jobs. Incidentally, Newt sort of yells, “Aaahh!!” whenever he sees John Boehner (whom he calls “The John”). I’ve personally always found Boehner to be an off-putting person, but now we have proof that he actually scares children. Anyway, after the speech, we were watching the analysts break it all down, and Newt casually asks:

“Are most of the reporters on TV white?”

This caught me off guard. I started stammering over my words while my mind sifted through relevant pieces of information — sure, the majority of newscasters are still white. . . but compared to when I was a kid, we’re leaps and bounds forward. . . but no, you’re right, it’s still not representative of the population by any stretch. . . and, dang it, you were supposed to be the kid who grew up watching the Obamas in the White House and thinking it was no big thing.

So as I was spitting out some sort of grunting, nonsensical word combinations, he piped in:

“You know, because Democrats are blue, and Republicans are red, so are reporters white?”

Ah.

I wish, honey. I wish.

It’s sad when you hear yourself explaining to your son that when his great-grandfather was a journalist in World War II, reporters were basically “white.” And when his mother went to journalism school, students were taught to be “white.” And when a society doesn’t have that type of system, it starts to break down.

“That makes sense.”

If only everyone could have 8-year-old logic.