2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumMaybe my parents were closet radicals but...
I grew up thinking that what makes America great is that we're all immigrants. We're from all over the world. America is the melting pot. The best of the best. Together, we represent the world. Diversity makes us stronger.
What the fuck. How did we get here? Where did all that go?
Lindalouuu
(91 posts)Where I was raised and lived most of my life...mostly Swedish and Italian..I do remember (this was on the mid sixties). My friend wasn't allowed to date Italians. I guess prejudice has always been around.... sad.
Just different immigrants to hate now. And the orange fat boy has made it be ok to hate again. I hate him for that.. among other things that o hate about him. In fact I can't think of one thing about him that i like. Not one thing. I hate his racist minions too. Sorry. I know o shouldn't hate.....just having a hard time lately.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,852 posts)Nixon was elected on promises of "law and order" and an ego-boosting exit from the conflict in Vietnam.
On the other hand, Bush Sr. lost in 1992 despite a very decisive victory in Iraq that made many Americans think we were nearly invincible militarily. That opened up more focus on domestic issues and the economy.
Hitler rose to power because Nazism was very militaristic and the historically militaristic Germans were still upset about their defeat in WW1 (with Jews being blamed for it).
Now we have someone like Trump, appearing on the political scene after the debacles in the Middle East (which many Democrats knew would be a clusterf**k), claiming that he'll wipe out ISIS easily. He also made bogus claims that Mexico sent their criminals and rapists here, that liberals are openly inviting terrorists into the country, etc.
There's more to it since not everyone thinks the same way (just like most Germans didn't vote for Nazis into parliament when they still had their pre-Hitler freedom of speech), but I think it's a big factor that doesn't get mentioned enough.
Zen Democrat
(5,901 posts)Caliman73
(11,721 posts)Is a study in opposites and of slow progress amid a backlash from powerful White and wealthy interests.
What your parents said is basically correct. We are stronger because of the work and the ideas of all immigrants who came here. We also have to remember most immigrants took their turn being "other", while some moved into the "okay, you are White" column, and some have been able to have success while being on the "not White" column (Asians). There has been a long history of systemic obstacles put in the way of Black Americans, Latinos, and women in this country. We are strong despite this history but there are still those who will either use racism and sexism to try to divide the nation, or who truly believe that this is a White Christian nation and that it needs to be purged of those who do not belong.
The sentiment is still there and still strong, which is how we keep moving forward despite some people digging in their heels. We just have to remember that Racism and Sexism is unfortunately baked into the fabric of this country and we have to actively and aggressively get it out.