One of the most interesting parts of American history to me is the civil rights era. Of course, it's also the part least taught in school, or at least it was for people my age. It's like they never had time to get to those years. But my parents' generation lived through it, which makes it all the more amazing to me that it happened at all. The absurdity of legal racism is hard to wrap my head around. I'm the product of a desegregated school system, from grade 2 to grade 9.
In the 90's, I still witnessed racism (mostly on the part of uppity white college kids), but the new "isms" were directed at women and gay people. It came to a head my junior year of college, when I was a resident assistant. One of the guys on my floor was gay, and he wasn't interested in hiding it from anyone. In retrospect, it was dangerous for him to be himself in 1993. Some of the morons on my floor were harassing the guy, and we ultimately had to move a few people out of the dorm.
This week, the US Supreme Court took up two issues related to same-sex marriage. The cultural change seems to have come faster than I expected. A thin majority of Americans now have no issue with same-sex marriage. The thing that's even more surprising about this is the number of people who are vocal about it. Rationally, I shouldn't be all that surprised, because if you really think it through, there isn't a single reason that a married same-sex couple will have any bearing on your life.
These laws that amount to state-sanctioned discrimination are bad news, and fortunately said state and its people are coming around to realize that. It's not just the discrimination that's destructive, it's also the validation that some haters get from it being in place. (I think the same haters would argue that the same state is evil and wants to take their guns and their money, but hey, politics are all about what's convenient.)
I think one of the hardest things for me to reconcile is that fundamentally good people, full of love and kindness, can also find some portion of the population to hate. It's often by race, religion, gender, nationality and of course, sexuality. Some of it I suppose is generational, but I don't understand how someone with a life of experiences can conclude that it's OK.
No comments yet.