History through the eyes of a child

<p>When I headed out to vote on Tuesday, I did something I've never done before: I took one of our children along with me.</p><p>My voting companion was our youngest, 7-year-old Thomas. I wanted him with me not because he understood the significance of a presidential ballot that featured both an African American and a woman on major party tickets. I wanted him there simply because he didn't.</p><p>I've always had a deep love of history. So in the midst of an election cycle that was already historic even before the final votes were cast, I began thinking about some of the other landmark events of my lifetime. There have been moments both wondrous (Neil Armstrong's first steps on the surface of the moon) and horrific (Sept. 11).</p><p>But many of the historic events I have witnessed were viewed through the eyes of a child. One of my earliest television memories was watching the funeral of President Kennedy. I knew something terrible had happened, but as a 4-year-old, I couldn't begin to comprehend its impact on the nation, or how it would help shape the tumultuous decade ahead.</p><p>It was the same story with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I remember flickering TV images of marches in the South and, toward the end of the decade, the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But only years later, looking through the rear view mirror of history, could I truly understand the importance of a movement countless men and women were willing to die for.</p><p>Only later could I understand how events such as the Selma to Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped make it possible for a man named Barack Obama to win the presidency more than 40 years later.</p><p>With that in mind, I wanted to create a memory of this election Thomas would carry with him throughout his life.</p><p>As we checked in at the precinct table, the poll workers even gave Thomas his own "demonstration ballot" to fill out. Standing side by side, filling out our ballots, I couldn't help but smile to see how seriously he was taking this important task (I also noticed his ballot had many candidates of "color," names such as Benjamin Blue and Bertha Beige).</p><p>That night, Thomas was very excited as he told his mom he voted with daddy. I've tucked his "first ballot" away in a safe place for future placement in a childhood scrapbook.</p><p>Thomas will have the chance to cast his first real presidential ballot in the year 2020. It's my dream that by the time that election rolls around, he won't think it unusual to see people of color or women on the ballot.</p><p>And I hope he'll remember the day he went into a voting booth with his dad as one of those moments in history that helped make it all possible.</p><p>Ed Beebout is an assistant professor of communication studies at Sonoma State University and former news anchor for KFTY-TV.</p>