I lived in a predominantly Caucasian town, but, my neighborhood was multicultural. There were Jewish kids, Catholics, Greek and Russian Orthodox. I don't remember any Muslim kids. My loss. There were Italian kids, Polish kids, Russian kids, Hispanic kids and a token Black kid. We didn't invite the minorities into the neighborhood, you understand, they lived there.
We were all different but we were all the same. Lower Middle Class with modest methods of enjoyment and attire, but, we were great together. I haven't asked lately, but, if one were to ask the staff at my former High School which graduating class was the most memorable, they would tell anyone for years to follow it was clearly the Class of '73. The truth. No lie.
As one of the kids in the neighborhood growing up, it was important to have a bike. And there all kinds of bikes. Bikes with high rise handle bars, some with cable brakes and some with gear shift levers. There were blue bikes and black bikes and green bikes and red bikes. Each one different from the other. It was important to have shiny chrome wheels. Clean bikes, they had to be clean bikes.
Everyone of us were different from each other. We celebrated the holidays differently, we went to different places of worship, some didn't worship at all, but, we were never so different that we didn't have playmates. We found commonality in our difference by being fascinated with the same things as we grew up.
The time I remember we all were happy, inventive and enjoying each other was on a summer day when a breeze was blowing. I brought out a section of stiff cardboard from the basement of the house out of complete boredom and cut a piece that would fit perfectly between the frame of my bike and the spokes of my front wheel. I jumped on my bike and raced down the street and this completely delightful noise filled the air. It was no time when all the neighborhood kids heard me and well you can guess the rest. They all wanted to make noise as well. I was pleased I had enough cardboard and fasteners for all of them. The adults didn't pay attention, were absorbed in their own worlds while the children of the neighborhood loved the joy of wonderment and learning.
That is my America. That is the America I grew up with. Diverse. Interactive. WITHOUT computers or I-Pods or DVDs, but, only radios that played FM and telephones with an extension cord. No barriers. No hatred. Nobody was right, nobody was wrong, we all lived and loved and got by with what we had while laughing and smiling through our own entertainment with our lives.
Now, I obviously have a computer. I have DVDs. I listen to more than just FM radio. But, it's still the same America to me and the changes that have occurred over the past seven years under this current 'regime' in DC has me worried about the tolerance of each other and the stability of my country. The USA is becoming a blight on Earth and that above all else has to precede any 'ideology' of perfection a MINORITY of religious devotees desires as the precepts to government.
I doubt many people are going to 'appreciate' what I have to write about tonight; but; as an American woman anchored in the belief all people can find a way to get along; this needs to be done. I will not stand by and have my country victimized by obsessed religious bigots.
I
WILL
NOT !!!!!
