March 30, 2015

President Barack Obama

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
First, let me thank you for your leadership of our country. I am proud to have
voted for you in both of your Presidential elections, and continue to support
you in Alabama.
The purpose of this letter, however, is to tell you about a little boy that reads
with me each week. I am a retired community college educator who goes to a
local school every week so four 2nd grade children who need a little extra
practice with reading can read to me. This school is located across the street
from a large subsidized housing apartment complex, and the majority of the
children are African American or Hispanic. One of the children, Timothy, may
need a little reading help, but he is one of the brightest children I have ever
encountered. He asks the best questions, and ALWAYS makes me think!
A couple of weeks ago he said to me My last name is Nixon, and people are
always calling me Richard Nixon. I dont know who that is. I told him Mr.
Nixon was a President of the United States, and showed him his picture on my
cell phone (I spared him Watergate; he is young!). Then he asked how someone
gets to be President, and we had a discussion, with lots of questions, about
running for office, campaigning, voting, majorities and several other things.
Then he asked, How did Barack Obama get to be President? We went over
some of the same things, then he asked, But how did he GET the people to
vote for him? I asked if he was asking how you convinced people that you
were the person they wanted to vote for, and he said yes.
I explained that our country was in a not-so-good place financially, and asked
if he knew what that meant, but he did not. I used housing as an example a
lot of people lost their jobs, so they couldnt afford to buy a house. That meant
that people who built houses lost their jobs, and because not as many houses
were being built, materials for houses werent needed, so THOSE people lost
their jobs. He seemed to understand all that, but he wanted to know what you
said to the people to make them vote for you. I asked him if he knew what
HOPE was, and he said Well, kind of, but not really. I told him that HOPE is
believing, when things are bad, that they can get better. I told him that you
went to towns and cities all over the country and gave people hope that things
would get better, and that they believed you and voted for you. And I told him
that, while there was still work to be done, things HAD gotten better. He then

asked, But was President Obama rich, or from like a famous family? I
explained that you were NOT from an affluent or famous family. This led to a
discussion about working hard in school and setting and achieving goals.
This was shortly after the Selma commemoration, and he asked me if you had
been at Selma. I told him you thought it was very important for us all to
remember what happened at Selma, and that you had come to Alabama for the
commemoration. He said, No, I mean was he there when people were getting
beat and shot at and everything. I explained that you were a very small boy
when that had happened, so you were not here during that time.
I could not help but feel that this discussion between a 65 year old Caucasian
woman and an 8 year old African American boy was powerful, and it made an
impact on me that I wont soon forget. It showed me that children ARE paying
attention to you, and helped me believe that this little boy, who may not have
all the advantages that some children have, is inspired by YOU. I wanted to
tell you about that and thank you for the impression you are making on him.
Sincerely,

Anita Norton
5516 Garden Valley Ln
Pinson, AL 35126
ahnorton@charter.net