Thank you for highlighting the significance of Reagan’s speech about states’ rights in Philadelphia Mississippi, early in his presidential campaign. Many people do not know about this racist dog whistle that summoned southern whites supremacists to support his candidacy.
Thank you for highlighting the significance of Reagan’s speech about states’ rights in Philadelphia Mississippi, early in his presidential campaign. Many people do not know about this racist dog whistle that summoned southern whites supremacists to support his candidacy.
Reagan's actions and racist views became even more obvious and apparent when he was elected President. He was against placing sanctions against South Africa to end apartheid, even vetoing the Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986 although Congress was able to override the veto.
Reagan made a very controversial visit to a WWII cemetery in Bitburg, Germany in 1985. About 2000 German soldiers were buried there and 49 of the buried were SS officers which made Reagan's visit offensive to many, especially Jewish people and those that had family killed and terrorized by the Nazi regime. He never apologized for it and it always seemed strange to me. Joey Ramone, a Jewish kid from Queens, and Dee Dee Ramone wrote the Ramones song 'Brain is hanging upside down(Bonzo goes to Bitburg)' because they were as incensed by Reagan's visit as many others were too.
I remember that visit because it was so shocking and inexcusable. It makes me think about how the Reich came to the US to study our Jim Crow laws to see how to segregate Jews and other “undesirables.”
Yes I'm reading Rachel Maddow's book 'Prequel' right now, which is outstanding and very informative but harrowing to realize that these Nazi sympathizers and fascist racists have been part of the American population for so long. The 3 part Ken Burn's documentary 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' was really great too and talked about the ways the Third Reich used the U.S. history of seizing Native American land and confining them to reservations or annihilating them altogether, also using the enslavement and savage treatment of Africans and Jim Crow laws that kept them repressed even when supposedly free.
As she does so well, Heather writes in detail and really shows how horrible the murder of these 3 men In Philadelphia, Mississippi was and how long it took for justice to finally be served in some way. Or that 8 other Black men were found murdered just during the search for them in the months that they'd been missing. That Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were driven by Deputy Sheriff Price down some sketchy road to be brutally beaten, murdered and buried at the dam site by KKK members he was associated with is still too appalling to believe it can happen here in the U.S.
Yet Reagan chose to go to this site for a reason, as well as going to the Bitburg Nazi cemetery. He knew were he was going in these instances and it says much about him.
I was still in high school during Reagan years so couldn't vote yet. But there really is more to I would add to Reagan's historical record. Iran-Contra and working back channel diplomacy to undermine Carter and not let the American hostages be freed until January 20, 1981 the day Reagan was to be inaugurated.
Also crack cocaine flooding the streets of predominantly poorer, black communities in places like Compton/South Central Los Angeles and Oakland/Richmond in the Bay Area during his presidency reached epidemic proportions. His drug war policies and the disparity laws for crack vs. cocaine possession meant the Black people, especially young men, were often given longer prison sentences and more severe punishments than White people for cocaine possession. As I said before his actions and racist views became very obvious as president.
Wow…. THANK YOU!!!!! Trying to think of “any” Republicans (maybe Nelson Rockefeller who lost…) who cared about “the people”…. My first presidential vote was for John f. Kennedy…. And I went to the polls with my Mother to vote for Harry Truman when I was 12.
I ignorantly voted for Reagan that year, also. That was my first time voting. I always regretted doing that! I have NEVER voted republican since then, and never will again.
Jimmy Carter was a good man. When the time comes to separate the sheep from the goats..........he will be part of the flock, protected peacefully...for eternity.
I’m not really for or against anyone or thing, strange as that sounds. We live in an environment formed by a global society that objectively (as objective as one can be which usually isn’t very) is insane. We then elect and blame leaders for not fixing it and think this makes sense. 😵💫
My commitment is participating in bringing forth a world that works for EVERYONE and everything. With no one or thing left out.
I’m clear that it must work for everyone or it works for no one.
Working with a planet full of frightened people is a handful and yet is the greatest opportunity anyone has had the privilege of doing since it has become possible to feed and actually care for everyone.
This possibility of a world that works for everyone has put in its appearance recently. While many will scoff or even take offense at the idea that this idea is an idea whose time has come, it still has arrived.
It’s time to put down the shoving, and buying, and bullying our way along.
There is enough, way more than enough to go around. All that’s needed is the collective political will to make it so.
It starts with each of us standing on our own two legs, by ourselves, on our own and saying, and giving our word, (word like in the beginning was the word, not the printed words here) giving ourselves, the context for our lives a world that works for all of us.
It’s a simple act as it requires no behavior.
Note that from here you can’t prove it. Yet, you can know it and honor it. You can live from the truth of it into the lack of the fact of it and thus make it possible to occur.
It’s up to each one of us. And don’t force it on anyone or yourself either. Look down deep within yourself and see if it is true for you.
If it is, then throw your hat over the fence and honor what is true for you.
Many of us were simply young people following our parent’s lead. When I finally learned the truth I was ashamed of my naïveté and my father’s view of right and wrong. We can be thankful we are open to learning and to change. So many are not.
Lucille, my dad was a R no matter what. While I always voted for Ds for president, he always voted for Rs. I think his view of Ds was influenced by the Chicago machine as we did not live that far away from Chicago and went there fairly frequently. Both my parents and my family of that generation also had all the usual prejudices of that generation. It was OK to use certain words, etc. Fortunately, I had as friends a couple (both teachers) who did not share those prejudices and helped stir me in a different direction. I did grow up in Indiana, home to the most KKK members in the 1920s. See Fever in the Heartland about this. Once I was out into the wider world, I soon started to learn more about racism, etc. i am still learning for that matter. Also i have always loathed St. Ronnie.
My father was a Democrat, the only one of that generation in either side of the family. All his kids are Democrats. Shortly before he died, he leaned close and whispered “Your mother was a Republican.” I was not surprised because she had been skeptical of the Holocaust when I was twelve and when I was 17 she expressed eugenic reasons why I was smart and should have children because “they” weren’t smart and were having lots of children.
My parents had their short-comings, pre-judgements, and biases, as we all do. Six lessons they taught me that mean a lot today.
🙏
1st, you can learn from anyone no matter the other's station in life.
2nd, courtesy is a code of respect; small-talk is fine -- it is kinship in code.
3rd, do not say something behind another's back that you would not say to his or her face.
4th, never try to make an impression; you never know what impression you make.
5th, one answers, ultimately, to that (wo)man in the mirror.
6th, people think *about you one-tenth as much as you think they do and one-twenty-*fifth as much as you wish they would.
⚖️
¿Did my parents falter in practice?
¡All the time!
🤫
Nevertheless, they were more than sufficiently consistent in their behavior to set an example of what it is to be honorable, leaving a lasting imprimatur. And, yes, living as an ageing bachelor, I am acutely aware of how far I fall short of the asymptote of honor each day.
😇
But I keep trying to converge upon that Platonist ideal of honor (¡most likely because I have nothing better to do!). That is where the hard coding of fifty-to-sixty years ago comes into play: my parents never ceased trying to converge.
Well, by the time I was getting plugged in (e.g., junior high), this news was old news. I knew of bad things occurring against African-American but did not know exactly what.
During the transition from analog to digital TV, a subchannel of a local PBS station ran documentary 24-7. Several of them were on the Civil Rights movement. I would see the film on evening news when I was a teen, but seeing some of it again in retrospect was still shocking.
Certainly "a;alternate facts" have been part of human societies for ages. but pre-Reagan, engaged, investigative reporting and what Joseph Welch called "decency" most kept them from overwhelming society. Joe McCarthy was a popular liar, and the Vietnam War was built on lies, but both were taken down eventually, as was Nixon. Racist politicians told whoppers, and a lot of creepy stuff was still going on, but it did seem that a greater portion of the public and even politicians were acting in good faith. What changed? Follow the money.
I suggest the population explosion (the world population has more than doubled from approximately 3.2 billion in 1963 to around 7.9 billion in 2023, driven by improvements in healthcare, living conditions, and other factors influencing birth and death rates globally (Per ChatGPT).
I suggest this has triggered deep unconscious survival patterns where inhumane actions driven by these patterns manifest. We then dance around trying to explain at a more superficial conscious level what the heck is going on.
Where action isn’t inhibited by language development the outcome of over population is handled directly like for example (again per ChatGPT):
Yes, some mammals, including hamsters, may exhibit behaviors such as cannibalism or infanticide when overcrowded or under stressful conditions. Here’s an overview:
1. **Hamsters:** In captivity, hamsters may eat their young if they feel threatened, stressed, or if they perceive a lack of resources (such as space or food). This behavior is often a survival mechanism where the mother may sacrifice some offspring to ensure the survival of the rest or to conserve resources for herself.
2. **Other Mammals:** Other mammals, such as rodents and certain species of carnivores, may also engage in infanticide or cannibalism under similar circumstances. This behavior can occur in response to environmental stressors, competition for resources, or when conditions are not conducive for raising offspring.
3. **Natural Selection:** From an evolutionary perspective, these behaviors may increase the chances of survival for the parent and potentially the remaining offspring by ensuring that resources are concentrated on those that are most likely to survive.
4. **Management in Captivity:** In captive settings, such as in zoos or research facilities, overcrowding and stress can exacerbate these behaviors. Careful management of housing conditions, social dynamics, and environmental enrichment is essential to minimize stress and reduce the likelihood of cannibalism or infanticide.
In summary, while not all mammals exhibit cannibalism or infanticide, some, including hamsters, may do so under certain stressful conditions. These behaviors are complex and often influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors.
Interesting. There are certainly too many of us chasing too few resources while things are made worse by climate change which is a factor in many trying to immigrant as well as violence.
Good point: ¿why do we hear so little about over-population? I think it drives global warming and other challenges. We may be living through a grim vindication of Robert Malthus and the Club of Rome.
One is never too old to learn, nor too old to change attitudes. I will take a late learner over one who never learns any day. It wasn't too many years ago when I had an eye opener myself along with a patient of mine who was black. Neither one of us knew anything about Juneteenth and what it represented, but we learned and we continue to learn. May all of us be willing to continue to learn, correct our inadequacies and welcome with humility anyone who is just now joining us on this path.
Pamela: My mother was in her late 70s when I married my late exhusband - who was black. She did not talk to me for two years. However, it happened, once she met him, he was almost her bosom buddy. My son from the first marriage had worked on her. But you are so right. We have the capacity to learn and evolve if we choose.
In 1964, I was 11 and too young to participate in the Freedom March but most likely would have had I been older. By 1967, I had joined the huge anti war March on Washington.
In the north, many white families had a quaint way of responding to race issues. My father was proud of his one Black friend, Art, the bus driver, who was periodically invited over the house for lunch. But much later on, I have wondered why Art’s family was never invited over for dinner. Maybe then I could have played with his children.
Somewhere in 1967 or 1968, during street troubles, my father was heard to say, “It’s not the ones from Hartford causing all the trouble. It’s the ones comin’ up from the south.”
By 1981, I was dating a Black woman and she wanted to meet my parents. You always get a picture of how someone might age when you look at the parents. She had invited me to Thanksgiving weekend that year to stay at her parents house. I liked the way her mother looked and I projected it on how my girlfriend would age.
She wanted to meet my parents and I knew I was in for an experience. When I told my mother, she told me that my friend just wanted to better her social standing by dating me. But I explained that she was from upper middle class and I was from lower middle class. She then mentioned that our future children would be the ones that would get hurt. I then left her with a question; “But who am I.” My mother was Italian American and she married into an orthodox Jewish family. My friend wanted to meet my father and I knew that it would go much worse. I waited for when he was alone in the house and I approached him and told him I had been dated a Black woman and I wanted to bring her over. He launched into the not unexpected tirade belittling me as a failure in life. I waited for him to finish. I then asked quietly, “Are you finished?” I then with equal calmness told him not to expect me to come crying on his deathbed. I calmly opened the kitchen door and gently closed it. A true Shakespearian exit. It was the last time I spoke to him. In one year he was dead of a massive heart attach. I felt relieved.
My heart aches reading your story, which I can appreciate because of my own story. Thank you for opening the door now . . . stories can help people heal and we never know how, when, or where.
Thank you. As a writer with a small “w,” I seek to open doors of memory and experience in my life. One moment, one can find acceptance in a particular subject and the next moment, especially upon politically self-critiquing, an unacceptable attitude materializes. It goes with the clam chowder.
Heather, the ever historian scholar, has 10 primary sources studied for this one story. I read only one — Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech. Wow. Lengthy. I praise her ability to examine and write. I’m glad I’m just an occasional satirist and fun poker. I could never delve so deep as Heather does.
I married a Spanish man (Puerto Rican) and had a daughter with him. My parents loved him. Alas, it didn't last, mainly because we were both so young. But, reading about racism lately, I feel blessed I had the mom I did. I was born in Louisiana (my dad was stationed at Fort Polk). My mom came home to CT when I was three months old. She hated the south.
The south certainly has its own history and orientation toward Black people, but if you ask a Black person living in the North, Midwest and West they can tell you about about how racism was (is) practiced in those areas.
Oh I know this. My mom hated the weather in Louisiana, and she was homesick. She was just 20 years old. I'm happy she moved back because I like CT. If I had grown up in Louisiana instead, I would have liked it there. I'm not the best at getting my thoughts in the written word. I either tend to write too much, or as in this case, not enough. Thank you for responding.
This is very much an overlooked point. I believe we face the challenge of de-segregation of the heart. My sense, as vicious as Southern racism can be, there is more of a humanity to its regional culture, now diluted by modernity. The South may end up showing the North the way.
Before, and preparing me for, the inevitable cascade of disclaimers and virtue signalling, permit me to say that, absolutely, the right side won The Great Civil War; as a 'ute', I was a Yankee still fighting the war.
Many events define our history, often toward the bereavement of what might have been. For me two of the most consequential, in this respect, are the assassinations of President Lincoln and Senator Kennedy a little over a century apart.
Bill-Racism itself is an insidious dis-ease that infects all of us. It’s longstanding. Like your dad most people don’t even know why they harbor racial prejudice and hate. It’s too bad he let his dis-ease come between you.
Kudos to you for being willing to date someone outside of your “race”.
I agree. It goes back generations. It's just something some people are. I sincerely try to look at people as humans. That is what we all are. We are all born, and we will all die. Some of us are good, others are mostly good; some are bad and some are plain evil. But, you can't tell who is who by race or nationality or the color of a person's skin. It can't be done, yet it's done everywhere. Racism runs deep.
To me, treating racism is like putting the plug in the jug. It is a daily discipline. I will almost certainly not be free of racism; I have accepted that. What I can be free of is giving a voice, a gesture, or an attitude.
In 1964, I was five years old and my mom, my sister and I moved from Windsor to Bowles Park in Hartford. It was referred to as 'The Projects. I lived there until I was in second grade. I played with black kids and white kids. My mother, thankfully, was not racist. I've never understood how one can take an entire race of people and find them all bad people based on pigment. People are so hateful. Horrible way to live.
I lived on lower Laurel St near the Underwood factory which eventually demanded and got from the city homes condemned for Underwood expansion. The south end “projects” were along Flatbush Avenue. I think I will take this story and develop it into my next blog entry today.
Bill I like your story too. Consider editing the part “You always get a picture of how someone might age when you look at the parents. She had…..and I projected it on how my girlfriend would age.” This rings shallow and of small import in a budding relationship. Perhaps a warmer description of her mother’s personality would suffice in the event you expand your story.
I’m convinced but remains unspoken that this was why she wanted to meet my folks. So do I emulate my ole man today? In some ways definitely yes and other ways no. I’m bald-headed and couldn’t hardly help that destination. I’m argumentative for sure. I think he was somewhat a contrarian I certainly am and I consider it one of my better instincts because it helps me to look more critically at issues. I inherited a non addictive personality which served me well in my youth when I associated with highly addictive drugs and when I came to those crossroads, I turned around, ,stopped and never looked back. Lastly, he was a chemist and disliked art so eventually became an art dealer go figure.
No. I have only expressed one part. Even my mother exclaimed her regret choosing him. It was not a satisfying family unit for anyone. Of course I would not be alive had I not been for this union.
My father had a book called 3 Lives for Mississippi…I was maybe 15 and read it secretly. The story horrified me but taught me so much about racism…Stuff like that didn’t happen in Canada where I live…
Canada also is not without sin - study your indigenous history in Canada and the horrors Canadian indigenous children and their families endured. We must all do better.
Gina - NO QUESTION!! Totally agree. My point is - good for Af Ams in Canada but let’s no be selective - racism is still racism and I would hope you would support indigenous neighbors because we are all related. Second, Canada also can do better going forward - and without question the US has much to improve on.
Trump is Reagan writ large and writ vulgar. Reagan dog whistled in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Trump shouted out loud at Waco, Texas. Reagan courted klansmen, Trump wedded the GOP to the violent right wing extremist militia movement.
Tragically, on the Left, rather than Martin Luther King Jr who welcomed white allies into the Civil Rights Movement, we have openly racist and antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan amplifying the racial separatism of the Black Power movement - which has influenced such diverse figures as Clarence Thomas and Meir Kahane (progenitor of the racist right wing religious extremist Netanyahu regime.)
When I was a child, things didn't always work out well until I recognized the issue. I was insufficiently mature. And then my circle of concern expanded until it encompassed my circle of influence, which is to say that I became sufficiently mature. And then things would work out well.
Before he was elected, Reagan was insufficiently mature. Being elected meant an exponential expansion of his circle of influence. Unfortunately, his circle of concern did not expand, which is to say that he was an immature president.
On November 5, one of two candidates will be elected POTUS. One candidate is sufficiently mature. The other candidate's circle of concern ends at the end of his nose.
Yes, it is more complicated, but in addition to being more complicated, it is also just that simple.
He knowingly set the Republican Party on a hateful course which is evident today! And it must be defeated not only at the presidential level but very significantly in both the House and Senate as well! Let's do it for the Senate in AZ, FL, NE, MI, MT, NV, OH, PA, TX, WI; and Gov in NC; and for the House in these "very competitive" CDs--CA 3, 13, 22, 27, 41, 45, 47 and 49; CO 3, 8; FL 13, 27; IN 01; IA 01, 3; LA 6; ME 2; MI 7, 8; 10; MT 01; NC 01; NE 2; NJ 7; NM 2; NY 1, 4,17,19, 22; OR 5; PA 8, 10; VA 2, 7; WA 3, 5; and WI 01, 3!
Summary: 10 key statewide elections for the Senate and one Governorship in NC, and 39 "very competitive" Congressional District elections! Let's do it by registering and turning out every potential voter in support of abortion, IVF and womens' health; overdue gun safety legislation; and aggressively fighting climate change! We can do it---can't we? DAMN YES!!!
"President Lyndon B. Johnson, ...who had pushed hard for a stronger civil rights law since becoming president..., harnessed the growing outrage over the missing men. " The sense of justice of voters is the foundation of American Democracy. I trust that the same will prevail this November.
Thank you for highlighting the significance of Reagan’s speech about states’ rights in Philadelphia Mississippi, early in his presidential campaign. Many people do not know about this racist dog whistle that summoned southern whites supremacists to support his candidacy.
Reagan's actions and racist views became even more obvious and apparent when he was elected President. He was against placing sanctions against South Africa to end apartheid, even vetoing the Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986 although Congress was able to override the veto.
Reagan made a very controversial visit to a WWII cemetery in Bitburg, Germany in 1985. About 2000 German soldiers were buried there and 49 of the buried were SS officers which made Reagan's visit offensive to many, especially Jewish people and those that had family killed and terrorized by the Nazi regime. He never apologized for it and it always seemed strange to me. Joey Ramone, a Jewish kid from Queens, and Dee Dee Ramone wrote the Ramones song 'Brain is hanging upside down(Bonzo goes to Bitburg)' because they were as incensed by Reagan's visit as many others were too.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/05/this-day-in-politics-may-5-1985-565776
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-bitburg-controversy
I remember that visit because it was so shocking and inexcusable. It makes me think about how the Reich came to the US to study our Jim Crow laws to see how to segregate Jews and other “undesirables.”
Yes I'm reading Rachel Maddow's book 'Prequel' right now, which is outstanding and very informative but harrowing to realize that these Nazi sympathizers and fascist racists have been part of the American population for so long. The 3 part Ken Burn's documentary 'The U.S. and the Holocaust' was really great too and talked about the ways the Third Reich used the U.S. history of seizing Native American land and confining them to reservations or annihilating them altogether, also using the enslavement and savage treatment of Africans and Jim Crow laws that kept them repressed even when supposedly free.
As she does so well, Heather writes in detail and really shows how horrible the murder of these 3 men In Philadelphia, Mississippi was and how long it took for justice to finally be served in some way. Or that 8 other Black men were found murdered just during the search for them in the months that they'd been missing. That Goodman, Chaney, and Schwerner were driven by Deputy Sheriff Price down some sketchy road to be brutally beaten, murdered and buried at the dam site by KKK members he was associated with is still too appalling to believe it can happen here in the U.S.
Yet Reagan chose to go to this site for a reason, as well as going to the Bitburg Nazi cemetery. He knew were he was going in these instances and it says much about him.
I voted for Jimmy Carter and was very disappointed when Regan was elected. Thank you for the history lesson, I forgot all about that visit.
You're welcome, thank you for the reply.
I was still in high school during Reagan years so couldn't vote yet. But there really is more to I would add to Reagan's historical record. Iran-Contra and working back channel diplomacy to undermine Carter and not let the American hostages be freed until January 20, 1981 the day Reagan was to be inaugurated.
Also crack cocaine flooding the streets of predominantly poorer, black communities in places like Compton/South Central Los Angeles and Oakland/Richmond in the Bay Area during his presidency reached epidemic proportions. His drug war policies and the disparity laws for crack vs. cocaine possession meant the Black people, especially young men, were often given longer prison sentences and more severe punishments than White people for cocaine possession. As I said before his actions and racist views became very obvious as president.
Wow…. THANK YOU!!!!! Trying to think of “any” Republicans (maybe Nelson Rockefeller who lost…) who cared about “the people”…. My first presidential vote was for John f. Kennedy…. And I went to the polls with my Mother to vote for Harry Truman when I was 12.
I foolishly voted for John Anderson that year and have been ashamed that I did not see the value of President Carter presidency.
I ignorantly voted for Reagan that year, also. That was my first time voting. I always regretted doing that! I have NEVER voted republican since then, and never will again.
Indeed, thank you for the history lesson…. I too voted for Jimmy Carter….
I voted for Jimmy Carter as well.
Jimmy Carter was a good man. When the time comes to separate the sheep from the goats..........he will be part of the flock, protected peacefully...for eternity.
I’m not really for or against anyone or thing, strange as that sounds. We live in an environment formed by a global society that objectively (as objective as one can be which usually isn’t very) is insane. We then elect and blame leaders for not fixing it and think this makes sense. 😵💫
My commitment is participating in bringing forth a world that works for EVERYONE and everything. With no one or thing left out.
I’m clear that it must work for everyone or it works for no one.
Working with a planet full of frightened people is a handful and yet is the greatest opportunity anyone has had the privilege of doing since it has become possible to feed and actually care for everyone.
This possibility of a world that works for everyone has put in its appearance recently. While many will scoff or even take offense at the idea that this idea is an idea whose time has come, it still has arrived.
It’s time to put down the shoving, and buying, and bullying our way along.
There is enough, way more than enough to go around. All that’s needed is the collective political will to make it so.
It starts with each of us standing on our own two legs, by ourselves, on our own and saying, and giving our word, (word like in the beginning was the word, not the printed words here) giving ourselves, the context for our lives a world that works for all of us.
It’s a simple act as it requires no behavior.
Note that from here you can’t prove it. Yet, you can know it and honor it. You can live from the truth of it into the lack of the fact of it and thus make it possible to occur.
It’s up to each one of us. And don’t force it on anyone or yourself either. Look down deep within yourself and see if it is true for you.
If it is, then throw your hat over the fence and honor what is true for you.
I had heard things over the years but was skeptical. This essay was eye-opening.
It's only been news for 43 years. And you didn't have to stick to rumors. It was found in the "facts section"
Skeptical may have been the wrong word. I was seven at the time and heard about this crime later. Unengaged is more the word.
Many of us were simply young people following our parent’s lead. When I finally learned the truth I was ashamed of my naïveté and my father’s view of right and wrong. We can be thankful we are open to learning and to change. So many are not.
Lucille, my dad was a R no matter what. While I always voted for Ds for president, he always voted for Rs. I think his view of Ds was influenced by the Chicago machine as we did not live that far away from Chicago and went there fairly frequently. Both my parents and my family of that generation also had all the usual prejudices of that generation. It was OK to use certain words, etc. Fortunately, I had as friends a couple (both teachers) who did not share those prejudices and helped stir me in a different direction. I did grow up in Indiana, home to the most KKK members in the 1920s. See Fever in the Heartland about this. Once I was out into the wider world, I soon started to learn more about racism, etc. i am still learning for that matter. Also i have always loathed St. Ronnie.
My father was a Democrat, the only one of that generation in either side of the family. All his kids are Democrats. Shortly before he died, he leaned close and whispered “Your mother was a Republican.” I was not surprised because she had been skeptical of the Holocaust when I was twelve and when I was 17 she expressed eugenic reasons why I was smart and should have children because “they” weren’t smart and were having lots of children.
My parents had their short-comings, pre-judgements, and biases, as we all do. Six lessons they taught me that mean a lot today.
🙏
1st, you can learn from anyone no matter the other's station in life.
2nd, courtesy is a code of respect; small-talk is fine -- it is kinship in code.
3rd, do not say something behind another's back that you would not say to his or her face.
4th, never try to make an impression; you never know what impression you make.
5th, one answers, ultimately, to that (wo)man in the mirror.
6th, people think *about you one-tenth as much as you think they do and one-twenty-*fifth as much as you wish they would.
⚖️
¿Did my parents falter in practice?
¡All the time!
🤫
Nevertheless, they were more than sufficiently consistent in their behavior to set an example of what it is to be honorable, leaving a lasting imprimatur. And, yes, living as an ageing bachelor, I am acutely aware of how far I fall short of the asymptote of honor each day.
😇
But I keep trying to converge upon that Platonist ideal of honor (¡most likely because I have nothing better to do!). That is where the hard coding of fifty-to-sixty years ago comes into play: my parents never ceased trying to converge.
Well - those are as good as the Ten Commandments & understandable.
Ye wear wisdom well, ¡me-lady! 🙏
Ned-imagine being a 7 year old Black or Jewish child at that time. The terror, brutality and confusion would probably affect them for life.
So was my dearest best friend years ago. He was old enough to know better…
Well, by the time I was getting plugged in (e.g., junior high), this news was old news. I knew of bad things occurring against African-American but did not know exactly what.
Live and learn, one would hope. I’ve tried to learn, some just grow old.
During the transition from analog to digital TV, a subchannel of a local PBS station ran documentary 24-7. Several of them were on the Civil Rights movement. I would see the film on evening news when I was a teen, but seeing some of it again in retrospect was still shocking.
Ned, I appreciate your honesty. I was 10 when this happened and I, too, became much more engaged as I moved into adulthood.
It was never "old news." Like the 1963 Birmingham church bombing was never old news. Or maybe it's old news like the Civil War is old news.
Back in the time when alternative facts was not a thing. I long for it with every breath
Certainly "a;alternate facts" have been part of human societies for ages. but pre-Reagan, engaged, investigative reporting and what Joseph Welch called "decency" most kept them from overwhelming society. Joe McCarthy was a popular liar, and the Vietnam War was built on lies, but both were taken down eventually, as was Nixon. Racist politicians told whoppers, and a lot of creepy stuff was still going on, but it did seem that a greater portion of the public and even politicians were acting in good faith. What changed? Follow the money.
Money surely rules the fools today
And buys the brainwashing offered on Fox Fool TV.
I suggest the population explosion (the world population has more than doubled from approximately 3.2 billion in 1963 to around 7.9 billion in 2023, driven by improvements in healthcare, living conditions, and other factors influencing birth and death rates globally (Per ChatGPT).
I suggest this has triggered deep unconscious survival patterns where inhumane actions driven by these patterns manifest. We then dance around trying to explain at a more superficial conscious level what the heck is going on.
Where action isn’t inhibited by language development the outcome of over population is handled directly like for example (again per ChatGPT):
Yes, some mammals, including hamsters, may exhibit behaviors such as cannibalism or infanticide when overcrowded or under stressful conditions. Here’s an overview:
1. **Hamsters:** In captivity, hamsters may eat their young if they feel threatened, stressed, or if they perceive a lack of resources (such as space or food). This behavior is often a survival mechanism where the mother may sacrifice some offspring to ensure the survival of the rest or to conserve resources for herself.
2. **Other Mammals:** Other mammals, such as rodents and certain species of carnivores, may also engage in infanticide or cannibalism under similar circumstances. This behavior can occur in response to environmental stressors, competition for resources, or when conditions are not conducive for raising offspring.
3. **Natural Selection:** From an evolutionary perspective, these behaviors may increase the chances of survival for the parent and potentially the remaining offspring by ensuring that resources are concentrated on those that are most likely to survive.
4. **Management in Captivity:** In captive settings, such as in zoos or research facilities, overcrowding and stress can exacerbate these behaviors. Careful management of housing conditions, social dynamics, and environmental enrichment is essential to minimize stress and reduce the likelihood of cannibalism or infanticide.
In summary, while not all mammals exhibit cannibalism or infanticide, some, including hamsters, may do so under certain stressful conditions. These behaviors are complex and often influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors.
We’re not animals though. The vicious violence that people fighting for human rights have experienced is age old.
We should consider exactly who is committing the most violence and what their motivations are-I don’t think it’s population growth.
Interesting. There are certainly too many of us chasing too few resources while things are made worse by climate change which is a factor in many trying to immigrant as well as violence.
Good point: ¿why do we hear so little about over-population? I think it drives global warming and other challenges. We may be living through a grim vindication of Robert Malthus and the Club of Rome.
https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/
Bern: True, except human beings are a bit more complex & evolved than hamsters.
One is never too old to learn, nor too old to change attitudes. I will take a late learner over one who never learns any day. It wasn't too many years ago when I had an eye opener myself along with a patient of mine who was black. Neither one of us knew anything about Juneteenth and what it represented, but we learned and we continue to learn. May all of us be willing to continue to learn, correct our inadequacies and welcome with humility anyone who is just now joining us on this path.
Pamela: My mother was in her late 70s when I married my late exhusband - who was black. She did not talk to me for two years. However, it happened, once she met him, he was almost her bosom buddy. My son from the first marriage had worked on her. But you are so right. We have the capacity to learn and evolve if we choose.
In 1964, I was 11 and too young to participate in the Freedom March but most likely would have had I been older. By 1967, I had joined the huge anti war March on Washington.
In the north, many white families had a quaint way of responding to race issues. My father was proud of his one Black friend, Art, the bus driver, who was periodically invited over the house for lunch. But much later on, I have wondered why Art’s family was never invited over for dinner. Maybe then I could have played with his children.
Somewhere in 1967 or 1968, during street troubles, my father was heard to say, “It’s not the ones from Hartford causing all the trouble. It’s the ones comin’ up from the south.”
By 1981, I was dating a Black woman and she wanted to meet my parents. You always get a picture of how someone might age when you look at the parents. She had invited me to Thanksgiving weekend that year to stay at her parents house. I liked the way her mother looked and I projected it on how my girlfriend would age.
She wanted to meet my parents and I knew I was in for an experience. When I told my mother, she told me that my friend just wanted to better her social standing by dating me. But I explained that she was from upper middle class and I was from lower middle class. She then mentioned that our future children would be the ones that would get hurt. I then left her with a question; “But who am I.” My mother was Italian American and she married into an orthodox Jewish family. My friend wanted to meet my father and I knew that it would go much worse. I waited for when he was alone in the house and I approached him and told him I had been dated a Black woman and I wanted to bring her over. He launched into the not unexpected tirade belittling me as a failure in life. I waited for him to finish. I then asked quietly, “Are you finished?” I then with equal calmness told him not to expect me to come crying on his deathbed. I calmly opened the kitchen door and gently closed it. A true Shakespearian exit. It was the last time I spoke to him. In one year he was dead of a massive heart attach. I felt relieved.
My heart aches reading your story, which I can appreciate because of my own story. Thank you for opening the door now . . . stories can help people heal and we never know how, when, or where.
Thank you. As a writer with a small “w,” I seek to open doors of memory and experience in my life. One moment, one can find acceptance in a particular subject and the next moment, especially upon politically self-critiquing, an unacceptable attitude materializes. It goes with the clam chowder.
Heather, the ever historian scholar, has 10 primary sources studied for this one story. I read only one — Barry Goldwater’s acceptance speech. Wow. Lengthy. I praise her ability to examine and write. I’m glad I’m just an occasional satirist and fun poker. I could never delve so deep as Heather does.
I married a Spanish man (Puerto Rican) and had a daughter with him. My parents loved him. Alas, it didn't last, mainly because we were both so young. But, reading about racism lately, I feel blessed I had the mom I did. I was born in Louisiana (my dad was stationed at Fort Polk). My mom came home to CT when I was three months old. She hated the south.
The south certainly has its own history and orientation toward Black people, but if you ask a Black person living in the North, Midwest and West they can tell you about about how racism was (is) practiced in those areas.
Racism is nationwide and worldwide.
Oh I know this. My mom hated the weather in Louisiana, and she was homesick. She was just 20 years old. I'm happy she moved back because I like CT. If I had grown up in Louisiana instead, I would have liked it there. I'm not the best at getting my thoughts in the written word. I either tend to write too much, or as in this case, not enough. Thank you for responding.
This is very much an overlooked point. I believe we face the challenge of de-segregation of the heart. My sense, as vicious as Southern racism can be, there is more of a humanity to its regional culture, now diluted by modernity. The South may end up showing the North the way.
Before, and preparing me for, the inevitable cascade of disclaimers and virtue signalling, permit me to say that, absolutely, the right side won The Great Civil War; as a 'ute', I was a Yankee still fighting the war.
Many events define our history, often toward the bereavement of what might have been. For me two of the most consequential, in this respect, are the assassinations of President Lincoln and Senator Kennedy a little over a century apart.
Bill-Racism itself is an insidious dis-ease that infects all of us. It’s longstanding. Like your dad most people don’t even know why they harbor racial prejudice and hate. It’s too bad he let his dis-ease come between you.
Kudos to you for being willing to date someone outside of your “race”.
I agree. It goes back generations. It's just something some people are. I sincerely try to look at people as humans. That is what we all are. We are all born, and we will all die. Some of us are good, others are mostly good; some are bad and some are plain evil. But, you can't tell who is who by race or nationality or the color of a person's skin. It can't be done, yet it's done everywhere. Racism runs deep.
To me, treating racism is like putting the plug in the jug. It is a daily discipline. I will almost certainly not be free of racism; I have accepted that. What I can be free of is giving a voice, a gesture, or an attitude.
In 1964, I was five years old and my mom, my sister and I moved from Windsor to Bowles Park in Hartford. It was referred to as 'The Projects. I lived there until I was in second grade. I played with black kids and white kids. My mother, thankfully, was not racist. I've never understood how one can take an entire race of people and find them all bad people based on pigment. People are so hateful. Horrible way to live.
I lived on lower Laurel St near the Underwood factory which eventually demanded and got from the city homes condemned for Underwood expansion. The south end “projects” were along Flatbush Avenue. I think I will take this story and develop it into my next blog entry today.
Bill I like your story too. Consider editing the part “You always get a picture of how someone might age when you look at the parents. She had…..and I projected it on how my girlfriend would age.” This rings shallow and of small import in a budding relationship. Perhaps a warmer description of her mother’s personality would suffice in the event you expand your story.
I’m convinced but remains unspoken that this was why she wanted to meet my folks. So do I emulate my ole man today? In some ways definitely yes and other ways no. I’m bald-headed and couldn’t hardly help that destination. I’m argumentative for sure. I think he was somewhat a contrarian I certainly am and I consider it one of my better instincts because it helps me to look more critically at issues. I inherited a non addictive personality which served me well in my youth when I associated with highly addictive drugs and when I came to those crossroads, I turned around, ,stopped and never looked back. Lastly, he was a chemist and disliked art so eventually became an art dealer go figure.
Yes, I meant to also point out that "always" was not the right word to use in this case, though I understood what he might have meant.
My father actually believed he wasn't racist (his sister called him out for it often) because "I smile at black men when I see them". 🙄
Now my brother, who was much more influenced by him than me or my sisters, is a raging racist.
I am sure *your father was doing the best he could do at the time.
No. I have only expressed one part. Even my mother exclaimed her regret choosing him. It was not a satisfying family unit for anyone. Of course I would not be alive had I not been for this union.
I remember the speech well. The racist significance of it was not lost on Robert MacNeil of PBS, who's report I heard.
My father had a book called 3 Lives for Mississippi…I was maybe 15 and read it secretly. The story horrified me but taught me so much about racism…Stuff like that didn’t happen in Canada where I live…
It might have - speak with first nation people.
Oh my...Thank you...Very important point...
Canada also is not without sin - study your indigenous history in Canada and the horrors Canadian indigenous children and their families endured. We must all do better.
This history of Native Americans in Canada is regrettable but for many African Americans Canada was like the “promised land” compared to America.
Gina - NO QUESTION!! Totally agree. My point is - good for Af Ams in Canada but let’s no be selective - racism is still racism and I would hope you would support indigenous neighbors because we are all related. Second, Canada also can do better going forward - and without question the US has much to improve on.
Yes, of course...Thanks for waking me up...
Trump is Reagan writ large and writ vulgar. Reagan dog whistled in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Trump shouted out loud at Waco, Texas. Reagan courted klansmen, Trump wedded the GOP to the violent right wing extremist militia movement.
Tragically, on the Left, rather than Martin Luther King Jr who welcomed white allies into the Civil Rights Movement, we have openly racist and antisemitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan amplifying the racial separatism of the Black Power movement - which has influenced such diverse figures as Clarence Thomas and Meir Kahane (progenitor of the racist right wing religious extremist Netanyahu regime.)
The Nation of Islam may hold adversarial beliefs but they’ve never behaved like the KKK or insurrectionists that we live with today.
Farrakhan’s criticism of America’s policies and actions includes some truth telling.
When I taught in Watts, the Black Muslim community helped me get kids food and to school. In Southern California they were a force for good
Reagan paved the way for the Orange menace and the MAGA movement, yet many continue to proclaim his reign.
When I was a child, things didn't always work out well until I recognized the issue. I was insufficiently mature. And then my circle of concern expanded until it encompassed my circle of influence, which is to say that I became sufficiently mature. And then things would work out well.
Before he was elected, Reagan was insufficiently mature. Being elected meant an exponential expansion of his circle of influence. Unfortunately, his circle of concern did not expand, which is to say that he was an immature president.
On November 5, one of two candidates will be elected POTUS. One candidate is sufficiently mature. The other candidate's circle of concern ends at the end of his nose.
Yes, it is more complicated, but in addition to being more complicated, it is also just that simple.
He knowingly set the Republican Party on a hateful course which is evident today! And it must be defeated not only at the presidential level but very significantly in both the House and Senate as well! Let's do it for the Senate in AZ, FL, NE, MI, MT, NV, OH, PA, TX, WI; and Gov in NC; and for the House in these "very competitive" CDs--CA 3, 13, 22, 27, 41, 45, 47 and 49; CO 3, 8; FL 13, 27; IN 01; IA 01, 3; LA 6; ME 2; MI 7, 8; 10; MT 01; NC 01; NE 2; NJ 7; NM 2; NY 1, 4,17,19, 22; OR 5; PA 8, 10; VA 2, 7; WA 3, 5; and WI 01, 3!
Summary: 10 key statewide elections for the Senate and one Governorship in NC, and 39 "very competitive" Congressional District elections! Let's do it by registering and turning out every potential voter in support of abortion, IVF and womens' health; overdue gun safety legislation; and aggressively fighting climate change! We can do it---can't we? DAMN YES!!!
"President Lyndon B. Johnson, ...who had pushed hard for a stronger civil rights law since becoming president..., harnessed the growing outrage over the missing men. " The sense of justice of voters is the foundation of American Democracy. I trust that the same will prevail this November.