So it all started with this on Super Bowl Sunday:
America, the Beautiful. Showing what America is made of. Different sexes. Different races. Different ethnicities. Different languages. A melting pot of uniqueness. That's what makes America what it is today. Then I see this first thing the next morning:
If people don't like the way America is today, they are more than welcome to leave. Coca-Cola has always been about bringing people together "in perfect harmony." Their message is simple: we are all beautiful, no matter our color, sex, or sexual orientation. I want this to be the message my girls grow up with.
It bothers me that I have to explain this to my girls. Yes, I know that times are changing, and I'm loving it. I like explaining it to my girls, but it still bothers me. Cadyn is noticing things more and more these days. There were times when she looked at an Olympian (the American speed skater J.R. Celski), she said that it "looks like he should be on the China team." Teachable moment. I explained to her, first off, that not all Asians are Chinese. He is half Polish and half Filipino. I explain to her, remind her, that she is half white and half Puerto Rican and Cuban. She is Hispanic. I know she's young, but I have got to clear this up quickly. Just like students at my school (my daughter was one of these, but not anymore) that call all the bilingual students "Spanish" kids. I have explained to these students that it would be more accurate to call them Mexican, as most of them are of Mexican descent, but the term "Hispanic" is more PC. These are innocent kids. I have to teach them. I feel it's my job as an educator to educate.
But the people posting on the above post are NOT kids. They are adults. They are parents. They are Americans. But they don't like the way America is portrayed or how "their" song is sung. "It is meant to be sung in English." "English is America's language." There are 1244 comments on the above thread and only a handful (like mine) are defending Coca-Cola. I guess that is just who follows a guy as ignorant as Todd Starnes. Heck, the author of "America, the Beautiful," Katherine Lee Bates, was a lesbian. They are forwarding this ugliness to the public and I, as a parent, cannot allow it to go on without saying or writing something.
I teach my girls all the time that it's okay that men fall in love with men and women fall in love with women. It doesn't make them any different than their mom falling in love with their dad. They deserve to be as happy as we are. We watch Ellen and the girls think nothing of the fact that Ellen and Portia are married. We watch Modern Family and my girls love Cam and Mitchell. And they haven't even mentioned that Lilly is Vietnamese. And they might not know it (though they kind of do), their parents are the same as Jay and Gloria (I am a less sexy with no accent Gloria)...white and Hispanic. I know that Cadyn "forgets" that she is Hispanic, and this is not okay by me. I dropped the ball by not teaching her Spanish, but I need to. I need to make my girls proud to be Hispanic. I feel like I have to take them to more cultural events, but not limited to Hispanic events. I want them to experience different ethnicities and cultures and lifestyles. When I tell them that they know people who are gay, they are surprised. They can't put their finger on who it is and that makes me happy. Why? Because they see no difference (and no, I didn't tell them who it was because I don't want them to start singling those people out when they didn't in the first place).
I love everyone in my life, regardless of color, race, sexual orientation, or sex. Actually, I love them FOR their color, race, sexual orientation, and sex. If it weren't for these, my life would be boring. America would be boring. My children are mixed race children. My children are what America is about. Yes, America, the Beautiful.
Thank you Coca Cola, for making us see that America is not exactly where I want it to be for my children, and that just this blog might change one person's perspective. But also, thank you for making a commercial that portrays the beauty of difference which makes us all unique. The one thing that we all have in common is that we are American.
Oh and thank you Brenda Wood, for using the platform that you have to express everything I believe is true.
Now, on to teach my girls about people I like to call "ignorant." And teach them not to be like them.
