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2 comments:
My father was part of that Greatest Generation. He fought in WWII under Eisenhower. Marched through Belgium and Germany to liberate town after town. We had Nazi paraphernalia (flag, sword, etc.) in the house up to the late 1960's when he sold it to a collector.
He and most of his siblings were also a racist to the core, but of a generation that you kept your shit in your mouth and just got along - you may THINK things, but you never treated anyone less than you wanted to be treated (and trust me, when he was in the confines of our home, the filters came off).
He was an Eisenhower Republican... then started his downward spiral in the late 70's, believing all the garbage spewed by Rush Limbaugh and the like. He listened to Limbaugh on an AM radio every day. As he aged and the ravages of a diabetes and other ailments began to manifest (mini-strokes, etc.), his filters came off in public - often being this 80-year old dropping the n-bomb without pause. I honestly believe that if he were alive today, he would be a full-throated Trump supporter today (he passed away in 2000).
In recent years, however, we had the opportunity to have some wonderful elderly neighbors. Tony was a SeaBee in WWII. He and his wife were/are members of the local Catholic church here in town. They never batted an eye about my or my African American husband. They were always engaging. Tony developed dementia then into Alzheimer's. He became what they called "A runner" - started running away from his wife and home. He always came to our door and asked us to take him in. He said he felt safe with us; we would bring him in, give him a seat and some water, then call his son. He passed away 5 or so years ago.
For all the anti-gay rhetoric from the Catholic church, neither of them have ever followed that dogma. They lived as Christians - treating everyone as they wished to be treated. His wife is in her mid-80's now and in failing health, and absolutely so sweet.
It's interesting the dichotomy between them and my Father. I guess there is a lot to be said about practicing what you believe.
So I thought about the Meme you have about "What would the greatest generation think?" - well... I think it depends on the who. Every generation seems to have their core racists and ever generation has their social champions; we never seem to grow beyond that. It comes down to what can we do in the hear and now. Us - our generation - has to keep the fight going - to keep the fascists from taking hold, from upending our democracy. To put down our smartphones and engage. It is up to US to stop the cancer in it's tracks.
Rad - What a wonderful comment! Thank you very much for sharing. You hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph. We need to keep the fight going.
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