Commentary: Parents must be mindful of what they say about the election around kids

The day after the presidential election, I walked into my school building, and before I could enter my office, a student, who arrived very early, asked me the following question: “Dr. McNair, is slavery coming back?” I was stunned by the question, and didn’t quite know how to immediately answer it. After all, the student was 10 years old.

Giving a history lesson about the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution that abolished slavery and granted civil rights to African Americans in 1865 was not the answer she was seeking. She wanted assurance that everything was going to be all right in her life. That the election of President Donald Trump did not mean Black people and other minorities were going to be relegated to second-class citizenship status.



All of this was going through my mind while I looked at her as she waited for a response. I said, “No, slavery is not coming back. Don’t you ever worry about that.

You are going to continue to do well.” I reassured her that everything was OK and then said it was time for her to go to class. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content.

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