Growing up in America before White Privilege.

 

Being a man who grew up in the 40's and 50's America before there was such a thing as White Privilege and Marxists destroying our cities by high jacking legitimate protests, I have a different outlook than many who are younger. I grew up in and idyllic era even though we were immersed in a bloody and horrible war for the first years of my life. In my America at 5 years old I could go to the store for my Mother without fear, the Grocer would tally up what my note said and write it in a book and send me on my way. Of course our streets weren't paved and I had to stop and visit with several neighbors along the way. My Mom would fix dinner and my Dad would come home from work and we would sit down together thank our Lord for what he had provided us and eat dinner as a family. My oldest Brother 16 years older than I, was away in the Pacific fighting for our Liberty and Freedom. My next older Brother was 10 years my senior and he and my Dad were my Heroes. It was common to understand that boys grew up and would eventually go into the Military to defend the civilized world and we were not bothered by that, if fact we rehearsed by playing Army all the time. When my older Brother returned home he married and moved to his own place and soon after my other Brother was sent to Korea.

 My family being Blue Collar workers were staunch Democrats, both belonged to their respective Unions and were proud of our Country and the rights it provided. In those days the Republicans were the Liberals and the Democrats were a much more Conservative family-oriented Party.

 As I grew into my pre-teen years the post war period allowed our generation a time to just be kids, playing outside till the street lights came on. We rode bikes without a helmet, we made scooters out of steel roller skates and barreled down hilly streets without fear. We came home with cuts and bruises and our Mom's didn't panic, they just got out the Methylate and we cringed as the wound was swabbed with the dreaded burning solution. We climbed trees, fell out of trees and no one ever got sued over a busted arm or leg. When my Mother had to work there was always another Mother in the neighborhood that kept an eye on us, other then that we were free souls. I remember in the summers we would ride our bikes about ten miles to Lake Washington and swim all day and ride backup those hills to get home before dinner. We learned what kind of things hurt us and realized that we shouldn't do those thing again. We didn't have gangs, we had friends and our friends from those days are still many times still our friends.

 When I went to Highschool it was with the same friends I grew up with we just made even more friends. Our School was a mixture of Races and Religions and we never realized we were different; we were just people. Our School Football team was made up of all races and we would fight as one for our school's pride. 

 I started to see a change in the political structure when Eisenhower became President, as a former General in Europe he understood why infrastructure of a Country was critical and he set out to develop and build the Interstate System we know today. He created millions of new jobs and the prosperity was shared by most.  The Country began to understand and new type of Conservatism.  As a boy who grew up in Seattle, I was only slightly aware of the Racial tensions in the deep south and the terrible conditions many folks lived in. Even in the prosperity of the time few Blacks in the South shared in the wealth.

 While in the Service I witnessed the first episode of racial dis harmony not actually pointed at a person but against Blacks generally.  This was hard for me to take as one of my best friends in high school was black and I would defend him to the end.  This was not someone in my unit but the husband of a girl my wife worked with that happened to be in the Army stationed nearby, he was from Tennessee.   Jan and I both were offended by this type of talk and made it a point to stay clear of the situation.  In the Service I worked with several Blacks, drank with them at the Club and generally found them no different from my other buddy’s. 

 It was after the Navy Jan and our two sons were on a vacation trip to Florida when we stopped at a Denny’s in either Georgia or Northern Florida and witnessed a young Black couple sitting in a booth as we walked in, they were still waiting to be served.  When the waitress came to our table and started pointing out the specials.  I told her that we could wait that the couple next to us was here before us.  She just glanced over at them and said I’ll get them when I’m ready.  Jan looked at me and without a word we got up and left the restaurant.  We surly didn’t feel privileged, just embarrassed over the incident.  Saying this I must say that in all my travels as a National Sales Manager living in Wheeling Illinois a suburb of Chicago I never had a repeat of that episode.  I have worked over the years with several Black Sales people and found them as productive and helpful as any others in my crew.  Most were exceptional and seem to work harder than others. 

 I had to work hard to gain my position and never felt privileged because of my Race.  I really think the whole idea of White Privilege is a scam perpetrated by disenchanted Marxist trying to divide the races.  Hard work and education has always been the answer for me.  I can’t answer for those who either lived under the Jim Crow laws in the deep South or those who used them to hold others back, to me they were just Racists and eventually Humanity overcame them.  The problems in the large Northern Cities were another matter as many Blacks were used by Politian’s making it easier to go for the ghetto life of free housing, free food and a check every month.  To top it off they were able to control their votes for many years.  The education system in these areas suffered because of the lack of discipline and parental control.  Husbands became missing as the government paid single mothers more for each baby and marriage became a lost treasure.  Kids were being raised on the streets of these ghetto’s and actually joined gangs for self-preservation.  When movies like the Blackboard Jungle started showing the life in these areas good teachers didn’t flock to the inner cities out of fear.  Many thankfully had strong parental guidance and survived these times and grew up to be outstanding leaders of our Country.  Ben Carson, Herman Cain come to mind as an example of a ghetto kids who were guided to success by their parents .  Sadly many remain totally uneducated and still find their selves on the same streets they were born on. 

 Over the years I have seen many Whites in the same position and few had the ambition to grow past their present position, it’s easier to blame society for their situation then actually join Americas free society and provide for their families.  For these people when they vote it’s not a matter of what’s good for the Country but who is going to give them the most. To be able to vote in this Country is a sacred privilege, one that has been paid for by the sacrifice of many.