General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared, what would be the mot difficult thing to explain? [View all]My grandparents upper middle class neighborhood is a slum now.
My grandparents would be blown away with a black president and simply the number of minority actors, writers, musicians, accountants, doctors... the world is radically changed in opportunity for minorities at the same time upward mobility is really, really low. The collision of these two concepts would be a major thing for them. Isn't this exactly what drives the hate in the teaparty? You have a massive decrease in the reality of "white male" privilege but at the same time a massive decrease in the economic ability of any to obtain upward mobility.
Of course the biggest shock to them would be as Irish and Italian Catholics the sudden welcoming of them as being considered "white" and totally accepted as part of the WAS(P) majority