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.
Sounds like my parents, although my dad refused to talk about politics. My mother listened to right wing radio even back then, and my father hated it.
As a young teenager at the beginning of the 60s, I started to have my eyes opened a bit, and they just continued, although it took until I was in my 70s to learn about Tulsa, Rosewood, etc!!! (Which horrifies me that it took that long!)
It took until my 80s to learn about Tulsa, Rosewood & likely so many more of these tragedies. And I think there are far too many today - right now - who have no idea nor are they interested enough to look.
The MAGAts want to take education back to the “good old days” when people of our generation were in school were taught NOTHING about race, colonialism, etc. How could we have known about real history when we were fed pablum? But you kept learning, which is more than we can say about millions of our fellow Americans. Good for you! ❤️
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.
Thank you for your kindness, Maggie. Alas, I forgot the most important one: learn to laugh, first at yourself and then at the world. By being here, most people in this forum likely attest something fine about their parents. I gave my thanks dutifully from my mind and soul before my parents departed. I wish they were here for one moment so I would give my thanks gratefully from the heart. Perhaps, it is the absence of things once important that engenders (my) gratitude -- that bridge over the canyon from head to heart.
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.
Made me laugh, I am an aging fossil whose stuck in the 60's and 70's but has kept up with current culture which most of the time I don't like. Growing up in the 50's was the greatest time, then in 60's did participate but then "girls just gotta have fun" became my mantra but became active again in the 70's. I used to vote R&D whoever I thought would work for we the people but then 90's came (Newt) and never voted for R again.
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.
I still have chills and a lump in my throat after listening to these songs. Sometimes, when I hear the rhetoric about states rights, I do think much of the south should find another country….
Why are there no folksingers writing protest songs? Do they not see? Or not care? Or are they afraid of the revenge tour?
My guess on lyrics like these are not in vogue: as turbulent as the 1960s were, there was an optimism, notwithstanding excessive self-involvement, that a generation could change a culture and its world. We live with a culture *not only of Christopher Lasch's narcissism, but also *of the profound pessimism of the 'anomie' of apparent dissolution.
Thanks for the links, Daniel. I was completely unaware that "He Was My Brother" was about this event. That was one of the S&G albums I listened to growing up.
I don’t recall how old I was when I heard of the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, but I was aware of them at the time Reagan visited Neshoba County, and I knew very well what message he was sending by appearing there. Michael Schwerner was also a childhood friend of Robert Reich, who described how Schwerner protected him from physical bullying.
One of the smartest things I ever did (without knowing how smart it was) was move from my small MA town to DC when I was 18. The world opened up. And funny thing, at first hardly anyone I knew had grown up in DC -- they'd all left their small and large towns just like me. That changed over time, however.
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.
Sounds like my parents, although my dad refused to talk about politics. My mother listened to right wing radio even back then, and my father hated it.
As a young teenager at the beginning of the 60s, I started to have my eyes opened a bit, and they just continued, although it took until I was in my 70s to learn about Tulsa, Rosewood, etc!!! (Which horrifies me that it took that long!)
It took until my 80s to learn about Tulsa, Rosewood & likely so many more of these tragedies. And I think there are far too many today - right now - who have no idea nor are they interested enough to look.
The MAGAts want to take education back to the “good old days” when people of our generation were in school were taught NOTHING about race, colonialism, etc. How could we have known about real history when we were fed pablum? But you kept learning, which is more than we can say about millions of our fellow Americans. Good for you! ❤️
I've learned so much on Heather's site and Joyce Vance's Civil Discourse!! Information that we all should have had when we were in school.
This may sound weird but I wonder if the history teachers I had in middle school or high school actually knew this history either!
Does make you wonder, doesnt it?
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.
Thank you for your kindness, Maggie. Alas, I forgot the most important one: learn to laugh, first at yourself and then at the world. By being here, most people in this forum likely attest something fine about their parents. I gave my thanks dutifully from my mind and soul before my parents departed. I wish they were here for one moment so I would give my thanks gratefully from the heart. Perhaps, it is the absence of things once important that engenders (my) gratitude -- that bridge over the canyon from head to heart.
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.
That's a perfect way to live, Jeri -- I feel the same.
Aging fossils are like statues, stuck in time.
Made me laugh, I am an aging fossil whose stuck in the 60's and 70's but has kept up with current culture which most of the time I don't like. Growing up in the 50's was the greatest time, then in 60's did participate but then "girls just gotta have fun" became my mantra but became active again in the 70's. I used to vote R&D whoever I thought would work for we the people but then 90's came (Newt) and never voted for R again.
Yep, I’ve followed the same path. A fossil too, but I have learned a thing or two, as have you. Puke on Newt…
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.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=cajF6s253a8
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KrrOY0vwuPE&list=RDAMPLOLAK5uy_k5z_l7Wp1-oQZn5j1G26girpG4jKdKZik
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=UDHXJZC-i04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQUhb2WKM6g
I still have chills and a lump in my throat after listening to these songs. Sometimes, when I hear the rhetoric about states rights, I do think much of the south should find another country….
Why are there no folksingers writing protest songs? Do they not see? Or not care? Or are they afraid of the revenge tour?
Folk singers are not in vogue now.
Why not? Honestly, I meant we need protest folk songs now as much as we did during the Vietnam war and Civil Rights era.
I think the protest "songs" being written are done in Rap & Hip Hop! Not my thing - but I guess currently those are the protests!
Great insight, Maggie. I wonder what those lyrics are.
My guess on lyrics like these are not in vogue: as turbulent as the 1960s were, there was an optimism, notwithstanding excessive self-involvement, that a generation could change a culture and its world. We live with a culture *not only of Christopher Lasch's narcissism, but also *of the profound pessimism of the 'anomie' of apparent dissolution.
Thanks for the links, Daniel. I was completely unaware that "He Was My Brother" was about this event. That was one of the S&G albums I listened to growing up.
Beautiful songs, Daniel with the name of wisdom.
Ned, I appreciate your honesty. I was 10 when this happened and I, too, became much more engaged as I moved into adulthood.
I don’t recall how old I was when I heard of the murders of Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner, but I was aware of them at the time Reagan visited Neshoba County, and I knew very well what message he was sending by appearing there. Michael Schwerner was also a childhood friend of Robert Reich, who described how Schwerner protected him from physical bullying.
Thank you, Maureen, for your gracious reply. Looking back, I was not very curious and complacently middle class. Not bad, simply not informed.
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.
"twas to me. Old news in the sense in that it was not discussed, at least in my orbit.
One of the smartest things I ever did (without knowing how smart it was) was move from my small MA town to DC when I was 18. The world opened up. And funny thing, at first hardly anyone I knew had grown up in DC -- they'd all left their small and large towns just like me. That changed over time, however.
Our worlds open when they are supposed and we grow the way we are supposed to.