I was beyond disappointed when Obama’s election made it very clear to me how many people around me were racist, people I thought were decent. It really did bring it out into the open, and the current regime continues to fuel it. I used to be proud of my country and felt that we were making progress. No longer.
I hate to agree with you, but I do. I'm saddened and infuriated watching our country flushed down the toilet. I cry every day about what's happening to our nation. We're a plutocracy and kakistocracy all rolled into one. I'm heartsick. It's a horrible feeling.😞
This is disgraceful and disgusting 🤮 My only response is this…
Vote Blue, no matter who, what or where. VOTE 💙 BLUE! Not even a Republican Dog catcher should be allowed in office! VOTE 💙 BLUE and watch the Blue 💙 tsunami 🌊 wash away the MAGA stench from everywhere!
At this point I wonder whether Democrats are worth a crap. Everybody knew about Project 2025. Why weren’t they fucking ready to fight it? Is it better to bleed to death from a thousand paper cuts or just have our heads cut off like in Highlander?
Why has nobody challenged weak-kneed Chuck Schumer for his leadership position in the Senate? Bunch of toothless flopsweats.
What the fuck for? To delay the inevitable? Do you really believe corporate centrist Democrats are going to fight for us? The fact that two doddering old toads are still in leadership positions in the Senate shows just how much the party inhales deeply.
Hit's the nail on the head, as usual, Earl. As an old white man myself, the one thing that I am grateful for is that skin color is not tied to net worth... because if it was than we would all be in trouble.
I expect any day now to hear that the Republican party is going to go back to the days where only land owners can vote, and of course the originalists will be right on board, in fact, they might even be the ones to convince the GOP of this.
Best column ever. I just sat there and cried. The historian Jill Lepore wrote a book —These Truths— in which almost every page of American history is one of hatred and oppression. I’m afraid this will never change unless we have a revolution which would make the last one look like a pussy. It looks as if Europe is about to go down the drain too. I’m so glad I’m old.
I hear you, loud and clear. I cry every day. It's not a comfortable way to live. We are having to deal with the most despicable cretins on earth in TRump's Clown Car Cabinet and the MAGAts who follow him. I'm truly bereft.😞
Yes. Anyone with eyes and a brain can see that America is a racist country—-from the very beginning. We seem to take one step forward, two steps back. The election of Obama really lit a fire under all the racists; for them it was the last straw. I know racism is everywhere, but the South is a steaming cauldron of it. 90% of the Whites have white hoods in their closet. The South should be (as my mother would say about something objectionable) “bleached, boiled, and burned!”
I was born, raised and educated in a small West Texas farming community in the forties and fifties. It had just two black people, a couple who worked for the local rancher. Mary, the wife was the cook and housekeeper and Jim, the husband was the general laborer. All the locals called him “N****r” Jim (to his face) and thought nothing of it. Even as a six year old in 1945 I knew that was wrong. I have spent my entire life fighting against racism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of discrimination, including many face to face conversations with friends, family and colleagues but my success rate has been pathetically low due to the deeply ingrained racism of too many of our white citizens, but I continue speak out against our original sin, even if my message is too often ignored.
In 1971 I was serving as an Armored Calvary Troop commander in West Germany, during a time of near racial war in the military. Officers and non-coms were getting fragged in Vietnam and the situation was not much cooler in Germany. I heard that our division G1 (personnel) had received his PCS orders so I went to his office to say goodbye and to thank him for all of his support of me and my unit. He interrupted me and said “Jerry, I like you because you’re one of the cockiest and least prejudiced white guy I’ve ever met!” I thanked him but said that he might be wrong because I could be hiding a black heart. He replied “Jerry. I can tell within ten seconds of meeting a white person whether they are prejudiced.” I shared that story with my Texas neighbor and good friend, a gay black hair stylist from LA, who said my G1 was absolutely correct. He continued on to say that all black people have to develop that skill in order to survive.
At age 87 I find that I’m living my final years in a rage against my fellow whites. Trump’s birther attacks on Obama starting in 2011 cracked open the racial floodgates. The six racist members of the Supreme Court and total MAGA control over the former Confederate states have taken our country back to where it was in 1861. Do we have another Lincoln and Union army waiting in the wings to help us save our nation again?
I’m 70 years old. I remember when my parents took my sisters and me to the Indiana Dunes National Lakefront. I was probably 6 or 7 yo, but I vividly remember dad taking me to the concession stand and seeing a “whites only” drinking fountain.
Thank you for sharing that piece of your history with us. I have no doubt you have lived a good life standing up to injustice. God bless your good heart. So sorry you find yourself in this difficult and dark place in our country's history, but we are all in this together. You can hold your head high and be proud of the stand you have taken against bigotry, always remember that!
Thanks for clearly bluntly & powerfully speaking the social truth everyone needs to understand. Whether people like it or not, we are all connected and dependent on each other.
"When I think of all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all." To this day, I cringe at the memory of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every g-dam Monday morning. Did they think we joined a Communist cell over the weekend? On the teevee there was nothing but white folks. Weird patriotism and white supremacy were baked into the curriculum and the culture. I do not want to go back to the 1950s and 60s. "We're number one!" is a hideous lie. We're not even in the top ten.
When in high school, I refused to stand daily and "pledge allegiance" to the flag. At that tender age, I knew it was wrong on some level and I refused to be a mindless lemming. One nun asked me why one day and after explaining to her, she actually agreed with me and never gave me grief about it. Nobody said a word about it. Imagine that being accepted today?? 😞
I also cried Earl. I am an old, white lady who moved from Colorado to North Carolina because I thought I needed a change. I left after less than two years because the n-word was so freely used by a lot of white people. Lots of black people too, but I guess it’s ok when used amongst each other. Plus I didn’t attend “the correct church of their choice”. I know you have a better location in NC than I was at, so that’s where I would go to get away.
When the framers put...3/5 in the constitution, they knew it was a ticking time-bomb. Jefferson was Ambassador to France 1785-89. Montesquieu, Robespierre, Rousseau, et al had spoken strongly against it. No way Tom wasn't aware of this.
I've read more ibooks in two years than I did in ten years of college. (In defense of math books, they can be slow reads. I spent a week on a paragraph once.) I've got the complete works of John Locke and Blackstone's Commentaries on the laws of England arriving today.
I'm a little late to the party. Let's see if we try to save this country.
D. Earl, if I may: I posted Steve Schmidt’s substack earlier today. It’s also quite powerful. I’m scared and I’m white, for chrissakes. I can only imagine how people of color feel.
Sad to say, but the people that really need to read this, won't. Thanks for writing it, Earl.
Well, I plan to do everything possible to make sure they do. This needs to end right now.
Great article, as always but would you please stop calling my friend Earl an old man!
Thank you for this, so plainly stated. Until we are all free, none of us is free.
Perfectly put, Susan.
I was beyond disappointed when Obama’s election made it very clear to me how many people around me were racist, people I thought were decent. It really did bring it out into the open, and the current regime continues to fuel it. I used to be proud of my country and felt that we were making progress. No longer.
Me, too, man. It was sickening. The f*cking Tea Party.
I hate to agree with you, but I do. I'm saddened and infuriated watching our country flushed down the toilet. I cry every day about what's happening to our nation. We're a plutocracy and kakistocracy all rolled into one. I'm heartsick. It's a horrible feeling.😞
💯
This is disgraceful and disgusting 🤮 My only response is this…
Vote Blue, no matter who, what or where. VOTE 💙 BLUE! Not even a Republican Dog catcher should be allowed in office! VOTE 💙 BLUE and watch the Blue 💙 tsunami 🌊 wash away the MAGA stench from everywhere!
For democracy’s sake,
VOTE 💙BLUE!
Agreed, Steve. We must regain the reins of humane governance.
[The internal rhymes were unintentional.]
At this point I wonder whether Democrats are worth a crap. Everybody knew about Project 2025. Why weren’t they fucking ready to fight it? Is it better to bleed to death from a thousand paper cuts or just have our heads cut off like in Highlander?
Why has nobody challenged weak-kneed Chuck Schumer for his leadership position in the Senate? Bunch of toothless flopsweats.
Frank,
You can bitch all you want. Just VOTE 💙 BLUE !
Honestly, sixteen months of 47, do you actually have any other option?
What the fuck for? To delay the inevitable? Do you really believe corporate centrist Democrats are going to fight for us? The fact that two doddering old toads are still in leadership positions in the Senate shows just how much the party inhales deeply.
Hit's the nail on the head, as usual, Earl. As an old white man myself, the one thing that I am grateful for is that skin color is not tied to net worth... because if it was than we would all be in trouble.
I expect any day now to hear that the Republican party is going to go back to the days where only land owners can vote, and of course the originalists will be right on board, in fact, they might even be the ones to convince the GOP of this.
They will always go lower, John.
And, women will not be legally allowed to be landowners.
Best column ever. I just sat there and cried. The historian Jill Lepore wrote a book —These Truths— in which almost every page of American history is one of hatred and oppression. I’m afraid this will never change unless we have a revolution which would make the last one look like a pussy. It looks as if Europe is about to go down the drain too. I’m so glad I’m old.
Thanks for your kinds words.
I understand the last five words completely.
Evil is relentless.
I just went over my annotations of Lepore's book and think you would absolutely love, enjoy and need it. I would be glad to buy you a Kindle copy.
I hear you, loud and clear. I cry every day. It's not a comfortable way to live. We are having to deal with the most despicable cretins on earth in TRump's Clown Car Cabinet and the MAGAts who follow him. I'm truly bereft.😞
Yes. Anyone with eyes and a brain can see that America is a racist country—-from the very beginning. We seem to take one step forward, two steps back. The election of Obama really lit a fire under all the racists; for them it was the last straw. I know racism is everywhere, but the South is a steaming cauldron of it. 90% of the Whites have white hoods in their closet. The South should be (as my mother would say about something objectionable) “bleached, boiled, and burned!”
True enough, the south has built an infrastructure to comfortably house racism, Linda, but bigots are in every state -- blue, red and otherwise.
We are, wherever we can Earl. Hard to believe that such evil is so pervasive in so much and many.
Well written and I totally agree with you completely, some days it is hard to accept that some people can really be so evil!!
So
Damn
Sad
I was born, raised and educated in a small West Texas farming community in the forties and fifties. It had just two black people, a couple who worked for the local rancher. Mary, the wife was the cook and housekeeper and Jim, the husband was the general laborer. All the locals called him “N****r” Jim (to his face) and thought nothing of it. Even as a six year old in 1945 I knew that was wrong. I have spent my entire life fighting against racism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of discrimination, including many face to face conversations with friends, family and colleagues but my success rate has been pathetically low due to the deeply ingrained racism of too many of our white citizens, but I continue speak out against our original sin, even if my message is too often ignored.
In 1971 I was serving as an Armored Calvary Troop commander in West Germany, during a time of near racial war in the military. Officers and non-coms were getting fragged in Vietnam and the situation was not much cooler in Germany. I heard that our division G1 (personnel) had received his PCS orders so I went to his office to say goodbye and to thank him for all of his support of me and my unit. He interrupted me and said “Jerry, I like you because you’re one of the cockiest and least prejudiced white guy I’ve ever met!” I thanked him but said that he might be wrong because I could be hiding a black heart. He replied “Jerry. I can tell within ten seconds of meeting a white person whether they are prejudiced.” I shared that story with my Texas neighbor and good friend, a gay black hair stylist from LA, who said my G1 was absolutely correct. He continued on to say that all black people have to develop that skill in order to survive.
At age 87 I find that I’m living my final years in a rage against my fellow whites. Trump’s birther attacks on Obama starting in 2011 cracked open the racial floodgates. The six racist members of the Supreme Court and total MAGA control over the former Confederate states have taken our country back to where it was in 1861. Do we have another Lincoln and Union army waiting in the wings to help us save our nation again?
Thanks for sharing this important history, Jerrol. I hope everybody reads it.
And your good work and decency are one helluva legacy.
I’m 70 years old. I remember when my parents took my sisters and me to the Indiana Dunes National Lakefront. I was probably 6 or 7 yo, but I vividly remember dad taking me to the concession stand and seeing a “whites only” drinking fountain.
It still sickens me.
Thank you for sharing that piece of your history with us. I have no doubt you have lived a good life standing up to injustice. God bless your good heart. So sorry you find yourself in this difficult and dark place in our country's history, but we are all in this together. You can hold your head high and be proud of the stand you have taken against bigotry, always remember that!
Thank you for your service, and for this incredibly well written post. We need more older white guys like you! Peace.
Thanks for this.
Thanks for reading it, Melanie. I wish every white person on earth would.
More importantly, take it seriously.
Yes.
Thanks for clearly bluntly & powerfully speaking the social truth everyone needs to understand. Whether people like it or not, we are all connected and dependent on each other.
Damn straight we are, Dawna.
"When I think of all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all." To this day, I cringe at the memory of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every g-dam Monday morning. Did they think we joined a Communist cell over the weekend? On the teevee there was nothing but white folks. Weird patriotism and white supremacy were baked into the curriculum and the culture. I do not want to go back to the 1950s and 60s. "We're number one!" is a hideous lie. We're not even in the top ten.
Yep. And why is the Star Spangled Banner banner before sporting events?
It's absurd.
When in high school, I refused to stand daily and "pledge allegiance" to the flag. At that tender age, I knew it was wrong on some level and I refused to be a mindless lemming. One nun asked me why one day and after explaining to her, she actually agreed with me and never gave me grief about it. Nobody said a word about it. Imagine that being accepted today?? 😞
Great article, Earl. It brings to mind that great YouTube video by Jeff Daniels:
https://youtu.be/wTjMqda19wk?si=OzOvRP9sEEFRopkd
I should add, that damn clip makes me cry every time I see it.
I needed that cry.
I also cried Earl. I am an old, white lady who moved from Colorado to North Carolina because I thought I needed a change. I left after less than two years because the n-word was so freely used by a lot of white people. Lots of black people too, but I guess it’s ok when used amongst each other. Plus I didn’t attend “the correct church of their choice”. I know you have a better location in NC than I was at, so that’s where I would go to get away.
Thanks for the kind words and sharing, Kim.
When the framers put...3/5 in the constitution, they knew it was a ticking time-bomb. Jefferson was Ambassador to France 1785-89. Montesquieu, Robespierre, Rousseau, et al had spoken strongly against it. No way Tom wasn't aware of this.
The unreconstructed South is still with us.
Yep, he was plenty aware, Bob. Hell, Adams pushed back against it (and him) regularly.
I've read more ibooks in two years than I did in ten years of college. (In defense of math books, they can be slow reads. I spent a week on a paragraph once.) I've got the complete works of John Locke and Blackstone's Commentaries on the laws of England arriving today.
I'm a little late to the party. Let's see if we try to save this country.
Well written and oh so true. Already shared amongst friends and on-line.
Thank you.
D. Earl, if I may: I posted Steve Schmidt’s substack earlier today. It’s also quite powerful. I’m scared and I’m white, for chrissakes. I can only imagine how people of color feel.
I mean no insult to you, but I can't stand Schmidt. I think he's a duplicitous POS. I find nothing redeeming about that guy. Totally full of 💩.