What's Democracy?

“What’s democracy?” This is the question that my nine year old daughter, Maddie, asked me a few Saturday’s
ago. My seven year old daughter, Leah chimed in as well. “Yeah, Dad. What is… democracy?”

I field a lot of questions as a high school teacher and a father of three. In fact, I’m sure I’ve answered this exact
question many times in class. But this time was different. The circumstances that gave birth to this question were
what made it so memorable.

We had just ducked out of the March for Our Lives in Chicago and we were heading north on Loomis Street.
Thirty years ago, when I was eight, we would have been walking among warehouses and factories but today
those same old buildings have given way to high-end lofts, trendy boutiques and sidewalk cafes. The four of us
had just met up with a group from my school to participate in this historical event.

From the Right: Mike, Leah, Nate and Maddie on the corner of Loomis and Washington

I didn’t really know how to explain to my kids what we were doing that day. So I employed an old
teacher/parental tactic. Vagueness. I just told them that we were going to an event with my school and that we
were going to be outside so we needed to dress warm.  

“What kind of event?” Maddie asked in the most annoying voice possible.

“It’s a march” I said. “A march for the people that were killed at that school in Florida.”

“What’s a march?” Replied Leah.  

“Just get in the car.”

Once we arrived the girls quickly realized that were part of something big. They could feel the energy. Crowds
were descending on Union Park from every side. We weaved through the crowds holding hands tight. The girls
especially, were taking it all in, reading every homemade sign, straining to listen to every activist on a soapbox
or with a megaphone. At one point, Maddie looked up at me and said “this is actually pretty cool.” Nate wasn’t
as thrilled. He felt like he got tricked into another parade. The two weekends before this he was forced into two
St. Patrick’s Day parades because of the girls’ Irish dancing. Trying to explain to a four year old the difference
between a parade, which marches down a street and a march, which also marches down a street was not
happening, so I just confessed and said, “Yes, Nate. We are in another parade.” As long as we had snacks, he
was good. And we did.

We found the group from my school in the midst of it all, thanks to a sign on a stick. We learned this trick when
we were at the inauguration in DC over a year ago. Once we found our group the speeches and performances
started. With each new person on stage my three kids demanded that I lift them up so they could get a look. When
the performances were over I heard one of my students say “I want to hear more poetry.” That’s not a common
phrase that comes out of the mouth of a fifteen year old. You never know the impact these types of events have
on children but the fact that it was a diverse group of high schoolers running the show, seemed to intrigued my
students and my kids alike. I for one was moved.       

It took awhile for the crowd to turn their attention from the stage and figure out where we were marching. But
the energy of the crowd was electric. With drums beating and chants starting to materialized, we slowly exited
the park and began the march. We marched right down Washington Street, with the Chicago skyline towering
over us.

Intrinsic Schools sign heading east towards downtown Chicago

As we marched, the crowd chanted. There were many chants but one chant took over the rest.

One marcher would shout: “Show me what does democracy looks like?”

The whole crowd would shout: “This is what democracy looks like!”  

Then it would turn to:

Whole crowd shouting: “Vote them out! Vote them out! Vote them out! Vote them out!”

Nate shouting along: “Get them out! Get them out! Get them out! Get them out!”  

And it would start all over again…  

This was the context of the question. What’s democracy? We were probably not a minute away from the march,
when they asked.  

My kids will learn about democracy in school. They’ll learn about Athens and Rome. They’ll learn about about
the Magna Carta and the American and French Revolutions. But will these stories “show them what democracy
looks like?” As a history teacher I would argue that they won’t. Democracy is something you have to experience.
In fact, I would argue that if you are not experiencing democracy then you are not living in one.

Webster defines democracy as:  

A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people

and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation

usually involving periodically held free elections

Of course this definition would not suffice when addressing a nine and seven year old.

This was the gist of my answer:

Democracy is a type of government where the people have the right to

talk about what they want to see changed.

It is a government where the people choose who is in charge and

they can change who is in charge if they don’t like what’s happening.   

“So…” Maddie says, “the government can’t stop us from marching even if they disagree with why we are
marching?” I said, “Yes, in a real democracy we can march and the government will not stop us. In other places
in the world, this cannot happen.” Maddie responded, “that’s cool.”

That few minute exchange would have brought George Washington to tears. It brings me to tears thinking about
how that conversation was 1000 years in the making. Democracy has come a long way. From a few privileged
men trying to equalize influence, to a nine year old girl realizing that she has power over her own government.      

There has been a lot of talk recently about how our democracy is in danger. The president often says things that
are anti democratic. He questions the validity of elections. He despises the free press. He ridicules the courts
and bullies the legislature. On more than one occasion he has applauded the control that dictators have over their
people.

Speaking about China's President Xi Jinping,

who led the charge to repeal the country's term limits law last month,

Trump said this:

"He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great. And look, he was able to do that.
I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."           Source

That Mr. President is NOT “what democracy looks like.”

In a democracy “supreme power is vested in the people” not in one man. On March 24th I was reminded of that
and I was rejuvenated to know that a whole new generation of Americans is now asking: what’s democracy?   

And now they know what it looks like!     

          

My favorite sign from the march

What’s democracy to you? What do you think “democracy looks like?”

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