A perfect night in America..

Good evening, friends.

Something extraordinary happened here in Waltham this evening. And yet, it's so simple and mundane that we'd expect this to happen everywhere, right?

After supper this evening, I was taking my son Javier out for a short walk to a nearby playground. Just steps outside the door, who should we run into but Toby Fisher, a local candidate for state representative. He was canvassing the neighborhood, passing out flyers, getting his name in front of the people, and generally living the statement, "All politics is local".

Toby's son is in preschool with Javier, and we've met before, so we chatted for a moment before we moved on. The saga of the preschool is listed elsewhere on these pages.

Reaching the playground, I was quick to observe a young white male playing with a remote-control car with what appeared to be his best friend, a young hispanic girl. They were having a grand old time taking turns driving it down the slide. Javi climbed up to the platform to have a look. Meanwhile, a young Asian mother and her two small children were playing on the swings nearby.

After a while, some of the African-American children in the neighborhood wandered by. Remarkably, the previously mentioned children playing with the remote-controlled car took great pains to make sure everybody got a turn to drive it down the slide...and then sensing that the smaller kids wanted to play on the equipment, they moved off.

Now the children were really going at it, climbing up and down the equipment, and taking turns chasing each other. The young Asian mother's youngest child was a mere baby, and I chatted amiably with her for a moment...but then the baby became the star of the playground and all the other children gathered around to take turns playing with her.

The mothers of the African-American children wandered by, and we all stood there, marveling at how well the children played together, and admiring the new baby, when it struck me that right here, in Waltham, MA, at this moment....this is what America is all about.

And yet, there are forces surrounding us that would put an end to all this.

Somewhere, someone has decided that the local politician has no chance, because he does not have an enormous 'war chest', nor any special interest groups backing him, or any corporate donors.

Somewhere, someone has decided that black and white children shouldn't play together, much less live in the same neighborhood.

Somewhere, someone has decided that a young immigrant that does not speak English very well is doomed to life as a second-class citizen.

Somewhere, someone has decided that all hispanics are criminals and bad influences, and all immigration from Latin America must be stopped.

Somewhere, someone has decided that only the white male will have unfettered access to the best that America has to offer, and throughout the rest of his life will have access to the best schools, colleges, and jobs....just because he's caucasian.

We really can't let that happen, can we? If the children, unsupervised by adults, can cooperate, take turns, play fair, and generally get along in a microcosm of society, and by doing so, make me, an embittered warrior, step back and smile and think that sometimes it does all work...we owe it to ourselves and our children to make sure that the kind of cooperation and goodwill I saw on the playground tonight follows them throughout their lives.

I think Thomas Jefferson might have looked down and smiled at us this evening.