I've never seen the movie...but I'm interested to hear what your kids have to say...

Just curious, are they watching this because of a school assignment or just because it's on and you opted to use it as a bit of a teaching tool?

Either way, it seems you are prepared to help discuss it with them, which is admirable.

Just curious, are they watching this because of a school assignment or just because it's on and you opted to use it as a bit of a teaching tool?

It was on, and I started to watch it.  They came in and sat down and were glued to the TV the whole time it was on.

I've never seen the movie...but I'm interested to hear what your kids have to say

They kept asking me if it was real, if the things in the movie actually happened, so I told them about Medgar Evers and how he was tried just this year and found guilty.   They wanted to know how come the KKK could get away with meeting like that, so we talked about constitutional rights and how the KKK considered themselves a 'religious' organization and were therefore protected by the constitution.  We talked about segregation and what it meant too.  They're really quite dismayed that all this happened 50 or so years ago - they just don't understand how it could have been allowed, how the perpetrators of lynchings could get away with it and how people used 'nigger' and 'negro' as part of their every day speech.

It was an eye opener for them, for sure.  Hopefully they'll take something away from having seen it. 

I think that being a parent is the toughest job out of all of them....you have to hold the answers to everything. There's no trial and error...I don't know how you guys do it! hehe.

There's no trial and error...I don't know how you guys do it! hehe.

I still wing it sometimes. 

If they ask me a question that I don't have the answer to, we go and look it up together.  It's actually pretty cool to learn something with your kids..

dharma, please remember that Mississippi Burning is a work of fiction. Yes, it is based on some real life events, such as the murder of two civil rights workers in Mississppi in the 60s but the rest of it, like the arson of the investigators house, blatant intimidation of witnesses and other parts of the movie like that are totally fabricated for dramatic effect

We've talked about that too.  I've explained to them what artistic license is (that was an interesting conversation) and we've talked about what was real in the movie and what never happened.  They know not to believe everything they see in the movies or on TV...and that's part of the reason Jake didn't get to watch it.  He's too young, too impressionable; he'd have had a hard time differentiating between what was real and what wasn't.  The older two are more seasoned about things in general. 

After the show was over, Shea went and got on the internet and is now reading about segregation.  Davey's watching over her shoulder....they're sorting out reality from fiction for themselves.

Oh, and LW...I found a pattern for a snood and I started it this afternoon!

dharma-girl,
Thanks for sharing this little bit of your life. Encouraging your children to explore the ever-widening edges of their world is admirable. Provokative titling too... Good job...

little-whip,
Your tongue is sharp, but your words are true. I wasn't aware that Mississippi Burning was fiction and that is a pertinent to the discussion. I've read lots of your blog and think you are a very interesting person. That knowledge makes the tone of your post more understandable.

Your tongue is sharp, but your words are true

Yeah, that's LW...she's to the point, but always truthful/  I'm glad that you can see why we love her so!

Encouraging your children to explore the ever-widening edges of their world is admirable. Provokative titling too... Good job...

Thank you!  They learned some important stuff this afternoon, and I'm proud of the way they handled it.

Fiction or not, it still shows the realities of what was. It is good to remind ourselves (and our children when they are old enough) about past horrors, so we don't slip back into them. It is also important to make sure we remember so that those who seek to profit from altering history can be exposed for the liars they are.

Yes, that is part of the "tough" of having the toughest job there is.

it still shows the realities of what was. It is good to remind ourselves (and our children when they are old enough) about past horrors, so we don't slip back into them.

If we do not remember history, we are doomed to repeat it. I wanted them to see what America was like back then, and this movie provided what I consider to be a good primer into segregation. Some of the dialogue was pretty close to TV interviews I've seen from back then...women saying that black people are genetically inferior to whites, that they smell because they don't bathe, that they're retarded and animalistic.....men saying that they'd kill and 'negrah' who dared to look at their daughter and that all black men have an inherent need to rape white women. It's attitudes like that that I WANTED the kids to see, because those attitudes are why segregation lasted as long as it did. They started out asking me why white people did that to the blacks but after they heard those dialogues - they stopped. Because they knew.

It IS a tough job, being a parent. I still feel lost and bewlidered sometimes, even though I've been a mom for 13 years. I still wing it some days, I still make it up as I go along, and I'm still learning - about myself, about my kids, about our family. I think, to be honest, that that's what makes me a decent parent. I think that planning and such makes for too rigid an atmosphere...I'm happy to let my kids take the lead; their actions let me know when it's the right time to introduce certain sujects and issues...to let them set the pace.

So far, they haven't let me down.

I kind of figured you would discuss that with them, and thanks for taking my remark in the spirit intended

No problem.  I think that I know you well enough by now to know when you're being mean....and you weren't being mean there.

Why do I say sadly? Because I feel it was a missed opportunity to really educate people about the events of that time period.

I agree.  It could have been done much more effectively.

I did get the parcel, and I sent her a thank-you email....she made me cry.  It was really touching to recieve a gift like that.....restored my faith in humanity. 

The snood is growing and growing.....

 

(love ya angie, if you're reading this.)

Ditto.

that itself is the most priceless gift I could ever hope to recieve from anyone

I know.  It's not the gift, it's the act of giving that gets to me every time.

This is a good thing, you know I haVe a big head!

HAHAH!

Dharma, they have to learn someday.  Better from you than from life or others.  Miss Burning is a caricture.  But it depicts history.  I dont like the hate, but I have made sure mine knew about it (so the inlaws could not taint them into thinking it was an imaginary beast).

If you do not, who will? And if they will, on what terms?  I am glad I did it.  For after the divorce, the ex tried to get back with her family (she cut it off, I did not).  But my children knew "Mississippi Burning" and rejected them.

Yours will thank you for the education.

Maybe not this year.  But they will.

Don't feel bad, Sly, a lot of people assume it's "based on a true story" since the actual crime DID happen, and it does portray the racial attitudes of the deep south back then pretty accurately, but sadly, the rest of the film is pure fiction. Why do I say sadly? Because I feel it was a missed opportunity to really educate people about the events of that time period.

True of most of Hollyweird. There's plenty of story to be had WITHOUT sensationalizing it, too bad they didn't rely more strongly on the truth...it would have made a more compelling story.

Dharma, they have to learn someday. Better from you than from life or others

That's what I think too. I'd rather that they learn from me, and learn the TRUTH (about anything, not just segregation and hatred) than they learn via their friends and get erroneous information.

Like I said, life in an uneven playing field. I think that by having them be informed, and informed with the truth, that the field gets levelled a little.

There's plenty of story to be had WITHOUT sensationalizing it, too bad they didn't rely more strongly on the truth...it would have made a more compelling story.

I think so too.