It's getting embarrassing to be an old white person. One of my Facebook friends recently wrote:
Witnessed two 70-something white people, who did not previously know each other, celebrating the fact that Chicago was not selected to host the Olympics in a Wawa in South Jersey today. Their glee was directly related to Obama "failing" and and... one of them even threw in a very thinly veiled racist comment for good measure. What is currently happening in this country is disturbing and alarming.
When I went to a local mall this week end, there were all these white people in their sixties and seventies holding up signs with "Say no to Socialism!" And "Keep your hands off my Health care." The closest thing we have to socialism in this country is Medicare, which these seniors want to save. And yet some of them carry signs saying that government should keep its hands off their Medicare. Huh?
Now of course there are many seniors--such as all my friends--who support extending the benefits they enjoy to the rest of the population. (See my September 5 post, "There are a lot of seniors out there who support health care reform")
But the reality is that much of the opposition comes from my demographic. Of course it's not just old people who march around brandishing pictures of Obama with a Hitler mustache or portrayed as a witch doctor, but old people are clearly over-represented.
The selfishness of some of these seniors is probably going to increase ageism among the young. How could it not?
I've tried to understand their fears and maybe muster some sympathy. These are people who see the world changing in ways they could never have imagined. And it's not just having an African-American president. It's seeing states (maybe their own state) legalizing gay marriage. And it's seeing their children and grand children embracing a multi-cultural America and voting for Barack Obama.
I've tried to understand the fears underlying all this, but the ugliness and mean spiritedness makes it really hard.
Karen
http://www.the-next-stage.com/
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: It's getting embarrassing to be an old white person .
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/16434
People are afraid of change. If you find yourself inclined to fear that you'll somehow lose something, you'll grab fast to that and lash out against what you perceive is taking that away from you. Progress is rarely ushered in by a uniform chorus of those who welcome it. For as many who want us to move forward, there are as many who think we'll be led somewhere that can never be undone.
A good point about resistance to change.
What gives me hope is that a younger generation of Americans seems to be moving beyond the prejudices of previous generations. The generational difference in voting patterns in the presidential election, as well as in attitudes towards gay marriage, is really striking.
A good point about resistance to change.
What gives me hope is that a younger generation of Americans seems to be moving beyond the prejudices of previous generations. The generational difference in voting patterns in the presidential election, as well as in attitudes towards gay marriage, is really striking.
Baby Boomers as a generation were raised with an extraordinary sense of entitlement. Now that they hold the levers of power they're acting on it.
Those most opposed to health care reform are older than the boomers—-people in their late 60’s and 70’s. I can understand how people might disagree with President Obama’s policies, but he is so clearly a decent human being, a good family man and an extraordinarily gifted leader, so how could. anyone hate him?? This is beyond my comprehension.
The people who hate him belong to a tradition of thinking white Christian America is under siege that goes back at least to John C Calhoun.