I grew up with an ultra-liberal intelligent semi-feminist older sister with a powerful voice and a great work ethic. I like to call my mom an "anti-republican." My favorite past-times included watching her real time analysis of every RNC (I think this is where I learned every curse word in existence). My father never really talked about who he voted for (he recently told me that he has voted for both republicans and democrats). I would say that I'm closer in line with my father when it comes to the way I think politically. Factors that affected my views on race: 1. Our housekeeper has been working for us longer than I've been alive. I consider her my 2nd mom and she just happens to be black and has told me all about segregated America. She never seems angry about the past, other than just accepted that racism is the norm. 2. Went to Welch Middle School and Westbury High School. Both were over 75% black. 3. My "clique" in HS consisted of a jew (me), a vietnamese guy, a chinese guy, a kenyan, a hondurian, and my best friend who is half-hispanic (but grew up in his grandparent's very religious, mexican household). My closest friends from my young childhood, who I'm still close with today, are conservative. One votes pocketbook, the other votes bible. We've had some great conversations about our differences over the years, but never really had any heated arguments. I know I went off on a tangent outside of my "household" but I think the other factors influenced me as much as my immediate family. Basically, if you're too far left or too far right, I'm going to find ways to disagree with you. For this election, I've turned into my mother (yikes)... an anti-republican.
and you learned that the poor and underpriviledged are better off under a republican administration? or... being poor sucks?
No, he learned the poor are poor because they are lazy and deserve it. People without healthcare are that way because they are disliked by the gods.
Their frugality may be learned from their parents, who did live through it. I remember reading a study about the practice among Jews who lived through the Holocaust to hoard food. My mother does this as well, which I attribute to her being born in France during WWII. She was too young to have to do this herself during the war, but her parents did it, and she copies them. But these things fade with each generation. I do not hoard food.
Yes, ALL poor people are lazy. But lazy people living off of grandpappy's trust funds are worthy of worship and loved by pirc1's precious gods.
Planned Parenthood's founder is Margaret Sanger. She was a firm beleived in Eugenics and used Planned Parenthood to carry out those goals. Do you know what Eugenics is? Rocket River
yeah, thanks i'll check it out. I don't see what this has to do with the discussion but sounds interesting.
Wait I have yet to read anything so forgive me, but it seems you are making the argument that race should make people ANTI abortion. because you responded to this where i was making a connection from poor people to abortion.
I was raised in rural Louisiana [north] Population was about 50/50 black/white and 1 hispanic family Though this was the late 70s and 80s it was segregated by area Went to mixed schools. . . . around 5th grade . .in a town of about 1444 people a 'private school' sprouted up . . .the students there were all white "NOOOOO BBBLLLAAACCCKKKKSSS ALLLOOOOWWWEEED " wasn't stated but was enacted. I was very good friends with black and white [hell most of the black folx were somewhat distant cousins] Watching the difference between black and white was stark Listening to teenage white boys refer to my grandfather by his 1st name while he was overly respectful to them being 'asked' [read TOLD] to do things for white folx [like mow a 2 acre yard and then being given 50 cents for payment and suppose to act GRATEFUL got it] Learned about the privilidge there Who has it . .and who doesn't I learned the history of the town from the black folx who were lynched to those ran out of town Up until I left I had black and white friends I left at age 13. Move to Houston. Went to Fondren Middle School [1st taste of big city life] I became the only black person with all PreIB classes [I had a couple of classes with one other black person] Coming in in the middle of the semester was a switch too It was an ok adjustment . .. the other folx were mainly Jewish and White I cannot say I even had a problem with any of them They were kewl people . . . The Next year I played football so my schedule changed. when to a high School that was 71% hispanic an adjustment but I did ok there had friends. . .was kind of a low profile kind of person then I went to Texas A&M 'nuff said My Mom was raised in the small town I mentioned She and her siblings had to pick 100 lbs of cotton before going to school every morning. She has a strong sense of history about the town and the difference between the people in town she told me all about her experiences and those of my aunts and uncles [they told me too] Family Stories will 'color' you perspectives Person experience will cement them My Grandfather was a religious man went to church every Sunday So I have a strong religious background Rocket River probably more than you wanted to know
My Grandfather broke his back during an accident working for the Federal Government on a make-work project (Bull Shoals Dam in Arkansas) during the 40s. The Government paid his immediate medical bills and nothing else, and he lived in near poverty for almost all of his life. His story started my distrust of the Federal government, but it has been reinforced many times since.
Short story: it's complicated. Long(er) story... I grew up black and poor in Houston. Spent sometime in Columbus, GA when my stepfather was in the military and then lived in FL. During that time, I mostly lived in abject poverty and, at other times, lived a low-income middle class life. Growing up, I had the opportunity to attend really bad schools and some pretty nice ones. I grew to appreciate cultural differences and hard luck. I thought that my mother and stepfather were poster-folks for poor decision making. Though she encouraged education and gave me freedom to explore my interests (as long as they were free), she seemed weak-willed and eventually appeared to give up on life as circumstances worsened and financial pressures mounted; he was a violent, self-pitying drunkard without a modicum of commitment or follow through (turns out he is/was bi-polar). He went AWOL from the military when the racism and stress came to be too much: He was already having a hard time but it got worse when he came home to see his commanding sergeant beating his wife and intervened, thoroughly kicking dudes ass. From that point forward, he was a marked man. Lots of ****** this and ****** that. If he were a better person, I might have had more sympathy for him. Growing up, I thought they were evidence that at least some people were poor because they deserved to be. (To keep it real, I have a lot of relatives who deserve their lot in life.) When they both abandoned me and my siblings, I grew connected to the ethics of hardwork, self-belief, pragmatism toward the obstacles of racism, distrust of white people, god-fearing, and education my grandmothers, grandfather and uncle embodied. I spent a lot of time reading; mostly encyclopedias, since that was all there was in the house. I didn't really want to venture too far out of the immediate neighborhood to risk going to the library. Anyway, I got to know my other sibliings from my biological father and got to know him. This other part of my family was upper-middle class. I got to enjoy a stress-free life with them. He and I have a good relationship now. I thought about following his lead and joining the military as he did; he served in Germany in the 1st infantry and was a sergeant. He told me, "Son, there ain't no place for a black man in this white man's army." I won't go into the conversation, but he is a very tough, intelligent, quiet yet fiery guy. I respected him giving me his take. He is now a pastor and we talk often. I get teary eyed at times listening to him talk about Barack Obama. I mean, very little gets my dad excited, at least excited enough to get that scowl off his place. Obama has got this man believing in America again; though he is certain them "white folks" are gonna try to kill him. Long story short, I left Texas as all my family wanted me to, and went to a small, elite college outside Los Angeles. Had good times;got a chance to experience the world in ways I hadn't before. Finally learned a musical instrument (college offered private sax lessons). Lived a more lush life than my mom and the two sisters I have through her. Served on dean's committees. Studied 6-8 hours a day and worked 2 jobs; don't ask me when I slept. Got to schmooze with trustees and wealthy elites. Met famous scholars and actors. Even better, I met my wife there. At the same time, I learned the face of invidious racism; jim crow also wore a double-breasted suit. The competition at school could be firece. I overheard a student celebrate that he scored higher than "the black guy" after he got a glimpse of my chemistry mid-term. Unlike my mom and stepfather, I met the competition head on; I studied longer and harder and won my fair share of academic and community acclaim. After the OJ trial there were nooses graffitied on campus. I encountered folks who flat out believed blacks were inferior on racial terms; I learned the scholarly version of calling some one a ******. I suffered overt discrimination at the hands of an instructor (I refused to believe it was what it was until my very, very conservative, Rose Institute intern friends pointed it out to me and even called the instructor out on it; I thought I was above blaming "whitey" for my problems in class). Moreover, I learned what unrepentant, unsympathetic, privilege-loving assholes really look like. I went through a militant-phase, a diehard marxist phase and settled in on a set of positions that recognize structural inequality in rousseauian-like terms while admonishing people for not educating themselves and fighting against their hard-luck at all times, never giving up on life, refusing to believe that the world can be better. A friend's relative, a guy who was high up in the Regan administration, once told me he thought I would make a good republican. I told him that while we shared a similar cynical assessment of the world, I actually believed the world could be a better place and I could help it get there in my own small way. I think that I am still that way. I come across as bitter and cynical to some, but I still rather optimistically radical about politics. Call me a progressive, democratic socialist, or whatever. I just believe everyone deserves an opportunity to reap the rewards of hard work and don't believe we live in such a world.
