Thank you for the clarification and thank you for responding to my post. Which from my perspective, was a courageous thing to do - since as you are no doubt aware 90% of my flist is liberal. Some far more liberal than I.
I am sorry I was unable to respond to you earlier - work prohibits it and the small/quick responses I do make were made either first thing this morning or at lunch.
You are of course owed a response. Especially since, I think you misinterpreted some of the things I said or rather the meaning behind them. Also, and this unfortunately is the nature of corresponding on the internet - we have a tendency to make assumptions about others based primarily on what we see in their posts. Which is the reason I asked if you had read my other posts on the topic.
I want to make it crystal clear that I nor the man I was speaking to last night, who happens to be my father who is 72 years of age, believe that "every" person who votes for McCain is doing so because they cannot handle a black man in the Presidency. This is of course ridiculous, not to mention illogical. Nor do I believe I said that in the post above but, I can see how you may have interpreted it that way. I have a friend who is African-American and is most likely voting for John McCain or she was in January, not sure what she's doing now. She did not vote for Bush, Jr. And she loved Bush, Sr. for much the same reasons she loves McCain, I suspect. And in law school, I was friends with another extreemly conservative African-American, who similarily supported Bob Dole. So, you see, not as insular in my own party as you may think. In fact, in my lifetime - I've know and interacted with more Republicans and Conservatives than Liberal Democrats. As have my parents. About 80% of my extended family is Republican.
Nor do I believe that you are racist for supporting the McCain/Palin ticket. The people I was talking about I'm not sure you have met, but I have, are not from urban areas, and have lived their entire lives in the same place. Those who have traveled - have visited friends or traveled with friends to places on organized tours - they have not interacted with the locals. Several are members of my own family and quite a few I went to high school and law school with, and they have never to my knowledge known a black person outside of the guy that raped and murdered their cousin or mugged their parents or was the poor and somewhat messy family that kept to themselves next door. This of course has caused them to have somewhat "narrow" view of the world around them. A woman, my own grandmother, whom I love beyond imagining, is, I'm sorry to say, racist. She is like Archie Bunker and at 90 she is not going to change. Her next door neighbor, a lovely woman, who I adore and still calls her - is also racist. And yes, they are products of their upbringing and environement. This is a fact.
What you do not know about me is I spent 17 years of my life in Kansas, and 4 in Colorado Springs, plus 11 in West Chester County, PA - living amongst fairly conservative people, the majority of which do and always have been part of the Republican Party. They were from all walks of life. I have known dirt poor, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle, to rich. I went to a conservative law school - and was close friends with a gun dealer. In College, I went to a Reagan rally with a supporter of Reagan who had tears in her eyes when she saw him in person. She was one of my close friends and her father died in a private plane crash - she was incredibly wealthy and very prejudiced not necessarily racist, but certainly prejudiced, as was a woman who was gay and pro-life and incredibly conservative, but not racist in the least.
My parents live in Hilton Head, SC - which is mainly populated by conservative right-wing Republicans from Long Island, NY. In short, I am hardly insular.
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branchandroot
Thank for responding, in return some clarifications
Date: 2008-09-11 10:17 pm (UTC)I am sorry I was unable to respond to you earlier - work prohibits it and the small/quick responses I do make were made either first thing this morning or at lunch.
You are of course owed a response. Especially since, I think you misinterpreted some of the things I said or rather the meaning behind them. Also, and this unfortunately is the nature of corresponding on the internet - we have a tendency to make assumptions about others based primarily on what we see in their posts. Which is the reason I asked if you had read my other posts on the topic.
I want to make it crystal clear that I nor the man I was speaking to last night, who happens to be my father who is 72 years of age, believe that "every" person who votes for McCain is doing so because they cannot handle a black man in the Presidency. This is of course ridiculous, not to mention illogical. Nor do I believe I said that in the post above but, I can see how you may have interpreted it that way. I have a friend who is African-American and is most likely voting for John McCain or she was in January, not sure what she's doing now. She did not vote for Bush, Jr. And she loved Bush, Sr. for much the same reasons she loves McCain, I suspect. And in law school, I was friends with another extreemly conservative African-American, who similarily supported Bob Dole. So, you see, not as insular in my own party as you may think. In fact, in my lifetime - I've know and interacted with more Republicans and Conservatives than Liberal Democrats. As have my parents. About 80% of my extended family is Republican.
Nor do I believe that you are racist for supporting the McCain/Palin ticket. The people I was talking about I'm not sure you have met, but I have, are not from urban areas, and have lived their entire lives in the same place. Those who have traveled - have visited friends or traveled with friends to places on organized tours - they have not interacted with the locals. Several are members of my own family and quite a few I went to high school and law school with, and they have never to my knowledge known a black person outside of the guy that raped and murdered their cousin or mugged their parents or was the poor and somewhat messy family that kept to themselves next door. This of course has caused them to have somewhat "narrow" view of the world around them. A woman, my own grandmother, whom I love beyond imagining, is, I'm sorry to say, racist. She is like Archie Bunker and at 90 she is not going to change. Her next door neighbor, a lovely woman, who I adore and still calls her - is also racist. And yes, they are products of their upbringing and environement. This is a fact.
What you do not know about me is I spent 17 years of my life in Kansas, and 4 in Colorado Springs, plus 11 in West Chester County, PA - living amongst fairly conservative people, the majority of which do and always have been part of the Republican Party. They were from all walks of life. I have known dirt poor, lower middle class, middle class, upper middle, to rich. I went to a conservative law school - and was close friends with a gun dealer. In College, I went to a Reagan rally with a supporter of Reagan who had tears in her eyes when she saw him in person. She was one of my close friends and her father died in a private plane crash - she was incredibly wealthy and very prejudiced not necessarily racist, but certainly prejudiced, as was a woman who was gay and pro-life and incredibly conservative, but not racist in the least.
My parents live in Hilton Head, SC - which is mainly populated by conservative right-wing Republicans from Long Island, NY.
In short, I am hardly insular.