Some thoughts of 77 yr old white male from the south

[clydefrand]

I am a Caucasian male, 77 years old. I’m NOT one of the 1%ers. I’m retired, living on a small pension and social security. My wife also has a pension from her job as well as social security.

We do pay federal, state, sales, property tax, etc.; however, we seem to have been included in the 47%ers Romney doesn’t care about. How can that be?

The GOP seems be going after the white male voters because it hates
blacks, and Romney thinks all white male voters should also hate them.

I was raised in a small Virginia town, and my parents, as I realized years later, were bigots of the worse kind. When I was growing up, race and segregation were just not discussed. I just kind of knew that the blacks lived in a certain part of town, the whites in another, with only a few exceptions.
(eg. A few black families lived in converted chicken coops in alleys behind white folks houses.)

I played with a couple of the children from these ‘coops’. I never thought anything about it, until one day a child’s mother came out and asked me if my parents knew I was playing with her son. I said I had never had occasion to mention it, and she responded “please don’t tell them, because my son likes playing games with you”.

As I got older and into high school, I did occasionally hear some of my classmates saying don’t ever go into the black section nor ever talk to one of the girls there, else we might get beaten up.

I went into the army after high school. In basic training, there were only two blacks in our company, one of them next to me in the same barrack. The first weekend we were given weekend passes, he asked around wanting to borrow $20. He wanted to go home and just wanted to make sure he had enough money to get back. I loaned him the money, and a LOT of the other guys jumped all over me saying ‘you’ll never see that $20 again, and never see the black dude again either’. Well, of course he came back on Sunday evening, and the first thing he did was to return the same $20 bill I had loaned him. Needless to say, no one ever said a word to me about that!

The point I’m making is that I never had any reason to dislike any one based on color. I judge people for who they are, how they act, their honesty, dependability, etc…!

So when Obama ran for president 4 years ago, I never ever gave his color a thought, and I still don’t. WHY ARE IS GOP SO AGAINST THE BLACKS, LATINOS, ASIANS, INDIANS, etc.

Why is the GOP also against gays/lesbians? Why do so many republicans actually believe all the lies Romney/Ryan tell. How do the republicans even KNOW what R/R’s policies are, since they seem to change not only from month to month, not only from day to day, but many times they change on the same day!

How was Obama was able to hire many women for his staff , and he didn’t even HAVE a “binder of women”.

Why doesn’t saving the auto industry seem to count? How can the number of unemployed go down, but they are not giving any credit to Obama? Why is the economy going up, but Obama isn’t getting any credit? How can Romney personally send many many jobs to China? And that makes him a good person to run our country? How come he puts a very large chunk of his money in tax haven countries (Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Switzerland), but this makes Romney a “patriotic” candidate? How come a man has gone through his religion’s rigorous ceremony where he vows his faith first to his religion, then his family, but the vow is to also make this a Mormon country, NOT a democracy?

[salin]

1. great post.

[malaise]

2. Excellent post

Rec

[freshwest]

51. +1,000.

[bigtree]

3. I do think these questions will have more significance after the election.

We'll see the actual extent to which the divisiveness manufactured and promoted these days by republicans and others is just election hype and mischief, or, a true trend among Americans.

[Oldfolkie]

4. I'm a 75 yr old white male...

I've mentioned it before. Born in '37. I was 23 when JFK was elected. Supported him, even if he did recall me into the Army for the Berlin Crisis. Then I worked for the War On Poverty. Then marched and organized for civil rights. Sang my folksongs all over the country for CR and for Labor union organizing. Opposed the Viet Nam War and worked to bring down Nixon.

Now people assume I'm an old fart racist conservative white male stereotype. Because of my age and color.
Well, just a whole bunch of people I have stayed in touch with over the years are still as involved with good causes as we ever were and intend to stay that way. That entire sixties anti-establishment crowd just didn't pick up and sell out because we got old!!!!

[xtraxritical]

21. I'm a WASP male over 60...

My grandparents lived in Washington D.C. in the 1950s and '60s. They're whole neighborhood in N.W. D,C. changed color due to "white flight" in the early 1950s. My grandparents stayed put. The neighbors (all black by this time) took good care of my grandparents and were always friendly and warm people. When the riots were taking place in the 1960s there was no trouble for my grandparents and the neighbors always reassured them that they were OK. When my parents and I came for visits I ran amok all over the neighborhood with black children and never thought anything about it. My parents, or no one else, told me about racism and to this day I do not understand it. As I got older I began to become aware of "Jim Crow" in Washington and Penn. I could not understand it and I still don't. People are just people and skin is skin, it's what's on the inside that counts.

[Jackpine Radical]

26. I'm a 68 year-old rural white Vietnam vet with a pickup, guns, and hunting dogs.

Obviously a Romney supporter.

Well, maybe there are a few other things to take into consideration.

Like my involvement in Civil Rights activities in the early 60's.

And my membership in Vets for Peace & antiwar activism, which started while I was still in the Army & is still ongoing.

And my canvassing for McGovern in '72.

And my membership in the UW-Madison's quite radical Teaching Assistant Association in grad school. We went on strike in support of a Black Studies program, among other things.

And my long-term membership in the Sierra Club.

[elehhhhna]

27. I'm 52, blonde, trim, near Housotn and I can pass for republican easily

more jewelery & hairspray = voila!

Helps when you're pollwatching. It's the reaosn the election judges told me thay took the main computer *(tabulator uploader thingy?) HOME at night to keep it secure.

Sign up to pollwatch this year, guys. If you can pass for Republican, USE IT.

[Tigress DEM]

42. When it comes to making elections secure, I love your devious attitude!! nt

[elehhhhna]

44. Andy Stephenson put the fire in me

called he while he was dying (!) to coach me on challenging Hart Intecivic & Diebold purchs. by our republican overlords.

"a HAND COUNTED PAPER BALLOT AS THE BALLOT OF RECORD." He made me repeat it until I had it perfectly. It's the one-sentence law that covers our collective asses and can ensure fair(er) elections.

In elections since I look at the sky and ask him to show me what I need to see - and I've seen plenty. Alas, we're in Tom DeLay's old district so none of this stuff is a big deal.

[NoMoreWarNow]

61. "pass for Republican"!

cute!

[hockeynut57]

77. you almost sounded like you were on match.com for a second lol nt

[clydefrand]

29.

[Vietnameravet]

54. Same age as you and Vietnam era vet as well ..also worked for McGovern and

and I was never so shocked and disappointed with my country as when they elected Bush to a second term even after realizing the war in Iraq was for false reasons.. We got involved in a war for false reasons once when I was a young man but it was years before we knew the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie.. This time the country knew there were no WMDs in Iraq but failed to hold Bush accountable.
.
I dont think I ever had much faith in my country after that until they elected Barack Obama,.. I thought things had changed...

I now realize there are two Americas..one that is open and inclusive and lives up to standards of morality and decency and the other a vindictive nasty bunch that talks a lot about values but is only good for spreading hate and lies..

I am also white and I hear things that I know damn well these clowns would never say in front of a black man or woman..so dont tell me racism is not a large part of this election..

[LuckyLib]

73. This needs to be its own post. Right on target! Welcome to DU!

[freshwest]

53. I know, and thanks for your work. Such assumptions hurt, but they're media generated. That's why.

[Skittles]

60. WELCOME TO DU, OLdfolkie!!!

[Odin2005]

66. Welcome to DU!!!

[calimary]

71. Salutes to you, and Welcome to DU, Oldfolkie!

I appreciate your post! I was in fifth grade when Kennedy was shot, so I was starting to be old enough to appreciate the news. My first political activism was with the Student Coalition for Humphrey-Muskie.

Glad you're here. We need you! Let's win this damn thing!






Now get to to work.

[underthematrix]

76. Hey, thank you

I'm an old AA fart and I was thinking the same thing. Back in the day we stood together and marched together and fought for social justice. To hear Repubs talk, it's like the sixties never happened.

[Carpathian]

5. Some thoughts of 77 yr old white male from the south

Sounds so much like the place I grew up in north Georgia. I am a 63 year old white female. As far back as I can remember my dream was to grow up and leave the little biased bigoted area. I have never based my thoughts of a person on the color of their skin. We are ALL of the human race and for one ethnicity to think they are superior is just plain WRONG. I too, voted for Obama and if Romney/Ryan get in the commanders seat we, as a country, will be plunged into such depths of despair.... I voted for Obama this morning.

[malaise]

7. Welcome to DU

[Sekhmets Daughter]

8. Welcome to DU!

[reusrename]

49. welcome to DU

the world is with us on this

[AverageJoe90]

56. Welcome, welcome!

You will LOVE it here on D.U.

[Odin2005]

64. Welcome to DU!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. "WHY ARE IS GOP SO AGAINST THE BLACKS, LATINOS, ASIANS, INDIANS, etc."

Because they are racist greedy snobs whose vision of a "proper" world only includes THEM.
That idea is bred into them, fed to them since birth.
People without money, and/or with non-white skin, and/or female, actually serve a purpose, which is to help make the "entitled" feel superior by comparison.
Been that way for centuries, all around the globe, history tells us.

[deadbrokediva]

31. They still have the choice

to think differently than what they were taught. It's called being a growing, thinking individual - something the great majority of RAPEublicans can't grasp.

[asjr]

9. Sounds familiar. I am an 80 yr old white female

born in the south and raised in Philadelphia for the first 9 years. Schools were integrated then and I attended schools there. I will never forget third or fourth grade where my best friend was a black girl and we were inseparable. Her name was Minnie and we were glued together. I asked her to come home with me one day and when we reached our apartment my father said she would have to leave as we were going out. After she left my father took me to the bedroom and spanked me really hard. So I learned early on what bigotry and racism looked like, and it wasn't pretty. But I learned also that bigotry and racism were anathema to me and I have never again treated others as unequal. My parents were divorced a few years later and it didn't bother me.

[deadbrokediva]

33. I was raised in South Philly

so I can relate - the place is still a hotbed of racism, I wouldn't step foot there ever again. I remember being around 6 years old and going to midnight mass with my family on Christmas Eve and a black family walked into our 100% white congregation and you could literally hear all the jaws dropping to the floor. When it came time for the "peace" handshake, none of the honkies would shake the black family's hands. Even at the age of 6, I was disgusted by this. When we got home, my idiot racist uncle referred to them as "spearchuckers" and "porchmonkeys". I remember spending the rest of Christmas Eve crying in my bed about it. That was the beginning of my pulling away from my family emotionally. Forty years on and they're still of the same ignorant stupid mindset and I rarely interact with them anymore. But I'm glad that incident happened because if it hadn't I might have adopted their racist views instead of developing a sense of social justice.

[AnnieK401]

10. My 81 yr. old uncle from a conservative southern background is an Obama supporter!

It truly amazes me because our Southern family has always been as conservative Republican and yes racist as they come. My mother was even a follower of Ayn Rand.
I was exposed to progressive ideas as a teenager and became a "black sheep." I won't go into the entire story that I could write a book about, however, my point here is that my uncle's family suddenly became liberal democrats after Bush SR. was POTUS. This might have to do with the fact that they make their living off Gov. contracts for highways and maybe they figured that Dems. are more likely to spend money in infrastructure. Or maybe it was the fact that GHWB promised not to raise taxes but did anyway. Anyway, Obama has the votes of a total of 9 people from a conservative, southern, racist background. That would be my uncle, his wife, their children, and children's spouses. Oh wait, make that 11 (me and my sister.) Oh yeah, we live in a key swing state, FL.

[NBachers]

11. Excellent writing. Thank you

[kellytore]

12. Thanks for posting. This gives me hope.

[Island Blue]

13. Thank you for this.

My 75 year old white, southern father and my 74 year old white, southern mother are Obama supporters. I think through the years, they have been influenced greatly by their children.

[Whovian]

14. Another thank you for the post. nt

[dterrell]

15. GOP

Eloquently stated and so true!

[Historic NY]

16. Welcome to DU - great post.

[Carolina]

17. K&R

Please spread your life experience stories with others in your demographic. Perhaps because you are an older white male from the South, you can affect, even change, some hearts and minds.

Thanks for your post

[skeewee08]

18. Thank you clydefrand for you post....

[mountain grammy]

19. I'm saving your post

do you mind if I use the last paragraph in a letter to the editor of our local right wing rag of a newspaper?

[clydefrand]

23. You may use any part or all of it if you want.

Thanks. I just hope I've helped a few people understand what's going on with 'ROMNEY - I'M WHITE AND THAT IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW' attitude.

[treestar]

20. Good post!

It's appalling to me we still have the "black executive syndrome" where President Obama has to do 10 times as much to get 1/10th of the credit. It's sickening. You can bet a white President would get credit for the recovering economy. Clinton won easily with a good economy.

[deadbrokediva]

35. Forget the ten times as much stuff

It doesn't matter how hard he works, a racist is a racist is a racist and will never ever give him an ounce of credit. See: Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, Ann (Ayn?) Coulter, infinity....

[treestar]

59. Ayn Coulter!

Love it!

[leanforward]

22. hear, hear

First, I have voted. Second, you hit the nail on the head. The GOP is afraid of diversity, anywhere. To me, the GOP represents a disaster for 98 percent of the population. But a lot of that population is likewise afraid of diversity. I'll be 70 on my next B day.

[renate]

43. welcome to DU!

[BabbaTam]

24. from Texas

Yes, been there. In the fifties my mom found me playing down by the creek with some black kids. She quickly whisked me home with no explanation. A couple of years later she yelled at my granmama for using the 'n' word at dinner. She said we didn't use that word in our house. Much later on 'integration Sunday' I was home visiting my parents and in Sunday school with the 'college class', an older man opens the door a bit and sticks his head in. He says, "Don't worry, if any of them try to come to church here, we've got a pew reserved in the back of the church just for them". ( and I thought Methodist were liberals ) During the last election my mother (still kicking) said, "Don't tell your father you voted for a black man." This election she baited me while I was showing her some pictures on my cell phone of Lloyd Doggett speaking. She proudly exclaimed, "I'm voting for Mitt Romney!" I just flipped to the next picture and said, "and this is how big my new hound dog is now." And life goes on in the south.

[dixiegrrrrl]

38. "and I thought Methodist were liberals"

My 74 y/o neighbor, born and raised in this southern town, is a Methodist.
widow these 7 years of one of the town's bank executives.
Just as nice as can be.
and still refers to the 50 y/o black businessman, another neighbor, as ..." boy".

[abelenkpe]

25. Lovely!

You're from the same area and the same age as my father. I wish he was clear thinking as you. Sadly he is a fox news devotee.

[Overseas]

28. Sadly, stirring up racism is an easy way for the Rovian Republicans to keep their numbers up.

It is a cruel marketing tool for them.

The Ends Justify The Means to them.

Boogieman, The Lee Atwater Story, is a great documentary about how their techniques evolved.

[sevenseas]

34. I still think about that show

the scene seared in my mind- when Lee Atwater was standing there with cheerleaders bouncing on either side of him and he looked like the devil in revelry. I am talking about actual footage here, not actors playing out the scenes.

You all- Please see that show if you have a way to do it.

[Spazito]

30. Excellent OP! n/t

[sevenseas]

32. kick and recommend!

Great speech -could only come from a great soul.

[sofa king]

36. Dad, did you sneak onto the Internet without telling me?

[deadbrokediva]

37. I've cut RAPEublicans out of my life

for the most part. There is only one that I keep - my good friend's boyfriend, and I see him maybe twice a year. Even though he will vote for Romney, I don't consider him a true ReThug. He is pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, very nice person, but his politics are fueled by his bitter divorce from his wife, who has bled him dry financially. He views the government as doing the same thing. I don't like that he's aligning himself with the party of hate (the only person he truly hates is the ex), but he's certainly not in step with their social issues. Might be the only one.

[GoneOffShore]

39. Thank you sir. An excellent and well written post. n/t

[johnt_1956_55]

40. great post dude

you rock

[yardwork]

41. Good questions. You're the same age as my mom.

There is a stereotype that all older white people will vote against Obama. Not true.

[sheshe2]

62. Agreed not true

My Mom at 82 (DEM)and Dad at 86 (GOP) both voted for Obama in 2008. My mom will be voting for him again. Alas my dad is in a nursing home now and suffers from Alzheimer's.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

45. Way to speak up...

for us older folks.

[Onlooker]

46. So much authenticity

Your post is really wonderful. In each generation there are men and women who stand for the future, and you're one of them simply ahead of your time. It's great you found the way to be a modern man in your thinking, despite growing up in a place and time when bigotry was commonplace. The bigots and right-wingers can't hold back the tidal wave of change; they've been trying to do just that since the founding of our country, but all they've ever done is slow things donw.

[Warpy]

47. You might be one of the people I ran into

after my parents moved to the south and the bigotry of southern children against anyone who didn't fit in fell on me like a ton of wet cement. You might just be one of the older folks who kept me sane while I lived at the public library because my home life wasn't that great, either.

So I thank you very much for that. I knew just enough of you to keep me from suicide before I had scraped together enough money to flee like I was shot out of a cannon.

Now I'm old, fat, white, and I have more money than I actually need. You'd think I'd be a prime sucker for the Republicans, but I've been paying attention too long to buy into their bullshit. Everybody but a handful of favored rich men loses money and rights when they get in.

Romney's the worst of the bad lot, worse even than Reagan. His religion's view of women is dangerous to all of us. His ignorance could easily get us into a major war. His team is every ugly man the Republicans have nurtured since Lee Atwater taught them what to look for in sociopaths and yes they are all men.

I would hope we're all voting here, like we all fight the good fight against stupid bigotry, greed, and ignorance in real life.

Just thank you and people like you for being there when I was growing up in the south. I wouldn't be alive without you.

[southernyankeebelle]

48. Thank you for sharing your comment with us. I also grew up on military bases as a young

child. My mother was from Italy and she wasn't use to being around people of color. My dad and mom both raised us not to hate anyone. We played and had sleep overs. My black girlfriends came over and spent the night along with other white girlfriends. We didn't think like that. When my mother went into the hospital to have our last sister my black girlfriend's mother took care of us. We had the same amount of kids in our families. Our dad's were the same rank and our mothers did things together. One her mother went into the hospital to have her baby my mother took care of their kids. I didn't notice racism until we were going back to PA and we stopped in Mississippi to visit my parents friends. I saw a bunch of young black children sitting in a pickup truck. Their dad was getting gas. I told daddy I was thirty and at that time they had water fountains outside. I went over and noticed that there were two fountains. One of them said for "colored only". I looked at my daddy and asked him what that meant. He said don't worry about it and told me to drink and lets move. That was the first time I ever encountered racisits. But I still have a variety of friends and I won't change. If a white friend came over and say a black friend at our house and said something well I would tell them not to come back.

[Pakid]

50. I am a 58 year old small business owner with employee's

A lot of Republican find it hard to believe that I do not support Republican policy's. The difference between me and them I am not stupid. I know which party will do the best for me and my workers and yes I care about the 3 people who work for me because with out them I would not be able to run my business. On like the stupid rich who seem to think that their workers are not a necessity I know better. As for the Republican party who in there right mind would support a political party that, A lies all the time ,B practices discrimination, C is just plain dishonest, D only cares about the lazy and very stupid rich. And yes the rich are stupid who do they think will buy there product when all the good jobs are gone they can't think that far ahead because of GREED!!!

[ladym55]

52. Thank you for your post

Your final paragraph especially hits home. You are asking all the questions I find so frustrating. This election should not be close.

You also help me as I look at all Romney/Ryan signs in my own neighborhood. I have been forced to face how many of my neighbors are racist. It's been very disappointing.

[Vietnameravet]

55. This article has inspired me to post something I wrote on a similar topic...i am 68

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251185801

[Flying Squirrel]

57. I can answer your question...

Racism is the snobbery of the poor. They need someone to look down on, otherwise they are the bottom of the heap. As people get poorer, racism becomes even more important - who wants to be the bottom of the heap? And the rich encourage this, (as well as participate in it of course since the more people you can look down upon, the better you must be) because it gives those who are being impoverished by them a different target to vent their anger/fear/frustration/hatred upon. Also it's a good motivator to get out the vote when you don't have any good reasons for people to vote for you.

[amuse bouche]

58. I'm in love

with clydefrand Wonderful post

[AsahinaKimi]

63. Nicely stated.

[Odin2005]

65. Well said, Old-Timer!!!

[Honeycombe8]

67. I wish you were in my family! You are an exceptional person. (I'm from the south, too) nt

[NYC_SKP]

68. K/R (nt)

[johnlucas]

69. I'm Black & happy to see so many Whites who rejected racism

I'm 36 years old, live in the South, & when I want to talk politics I'm always wary of striking up a conversation with a White person because I'm not sure if we would agree on views.
I always let the White person speak their views & THEN speak my Progressive views afterward.
I never initiate because you just don't know.
Yet you don't want to prejudge & assume they are automatically bigots just because they're White.

There's still a WHOLE lot of bigotry in this country & definitely in the South.
But I know that those old systems of bigotry from chattel slavery to Jim Crow were broken down BECAUSE there were White folks who said that this was simply wrong.
There were Whites who recognized & respected Black people's humanity & helped us break down this evil system.

Yes this American system was built off of White Supremacy just like every other nation in the American continents.
To see the European as the pinnacle & everyone else as beneath that pinnacle.
It may have manifested itself in different ways but this colonial system always had that same basic theme.

But there were a bunch of descendants from an island called Britain who said it was unfair for the King to exercise his Tyranny upon the People.
Even if those descendants became tyrants themselves after throwing off the tyranny of the British King, it set the stage for EVERY bit of tyranny to be overthrown.
And that included the tyranny of White Supremacy.

There were, are, & will be Whites who will fight the right fight in seeing that ALL people in this nation have equal regard as a human being.
There were, are, & will be those Whites who reject a system designed to elevate them choosing Equality instead.

I was born in 1976 AFTER a lot of pain was endured in achieving Equality for Blacks.
I was never raised to resent Whites by default because of that past pain.
I was always able to befriend & talk with Whites still knowing the history of this nation but not hating them for it.
And the reason for that is because of those Whites who rejected this racist system.

I know this system isn't fully defeated yet & I know there are STILL a whole lot of bigots out there.
But I DO know we make a little bit more progress everyday in part thanks to the people who shared their stories on this thread.

From a Black man, thank you for rejecting this system & thank you for helping to make this land live up to its advertising.
Social & Economic Justice for ALL People.
That's the America I wanna live in.
John Lucas

[Anita Win]

70. Bless you!

Great post and one I needed to hear. I live in the South also and the racism is driving me crazy.

[AverageJoe]

72. 53-year-old white southern male here

Born in Kentucky, spent years in Tennessee and Mississippi, now settled in The great state of Alabama. I love the South. I love my country. And I love the human decency which guides the Democratic Party. President Obama is a little further to the right than I would prefer, but he is a good man and a good President. He is the hope which keeps us going.

[ANOIS]

74. I think this is the one of the most important & inspirational

threads I've seen on DU. Your stories were wonderful, even the sad ones, because you overcame those times in your own lives.

Thank you to all, & especially to clydefrand & johnlucas.

[liberal N proud]

75. The best post I have read in the last month!