General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I am an older white woman, a retired teacher. [View all]Sancho
(9,067 posts)I don't post a lot, but I've been on DU quite a while. I'm one of the older white men and I jump in on occasion.
First, I really agree with madfloridian. I've seen a number of posts assuming that "old" or "white" or "men" are the "conservatives". I disagree with the limited evidence cited by some (like exit polls) for a number of reasons.
In context, I was one of those 1960's liberals who burned draft cards (I was A1 in the draft), marched for the 18 year old vote, supported the ERA (what's that you say?), and was an early supporter of environmental sustainability. Who do you think started Earth Day??? I was literally not able to go home as a teenage for a year because I was sympathetic to integration and women's rights in a typical SC household. It was tough to protest against the Vietnam war! Before LBGT was an issue we were very aware of sexual freedom as a personal choice no matter how you described it. I supported women attending military academies and some of my family (graduates of military academies) literally left the room at the holiday dinner!
When I went to college and entered the work force, I supported Jimmy Carter, and later worked for Richard Riley (Gov. of SC and Secretary of Education) so that I could make a difference in some ways besides just protesting. Now that I've been employed (mostly to teach something) for 40 years I'm active with unions, education, gun control, and election integrity. I've always been into something that DUer's would appreciate.
I see derogatory inferences on lots of thread to a particular demographic group as the problem. Heck, one could just as easily say the biggest problem now is the lack of involvement and action by the current younger, female, and minority generation. I really don't see young adults today taking an active stand like we did...even if there are demographically more "young liberals" than some poll of the retired voters you see showing up at exit polls. It's no secret that we need to get housewives, teachers, and minorities to exercise their vote more than they do now. The younger group on DU may or may not be active in the field, and no one can tell simply from posting threads. It's easy to blame our current problems (like Rick Scott!! ) on old white men, but if young liberals had voted we wouldn't have him in office now! Even so, I avoid calling out anyone on the basis of any demographic. I consider that a personal attack even though I've never alerted on anyone.
My wife (38 years teaching so far) recently was part of a union-supported, class action lawsuit against the school district for age discrimination. They won! Lots of young teachers in the future will benefit from action by those willing to stick their neck out a few years before retiring just to keep the school board under control in the future! Sometimes, the older liberals effect change and we should appreciate them and not insinuate that they are a problem.
Did you know that some school districts are still under court ordered monitoring to integrate from decades ago? I was recently a guest speaker at one of our local committees charged with that monitoring. None of the volunteers on that monitoring board are young - almost all are older and most are old white men and women from my generation who simply want to charge up the hill because we believe it's the right thing to do. We don't have to be minority or represent a particular orientation to support everyone's rights.
Frankly, I don't want to feel marginalized on DU just because of my age, race, or gender. DUers should know better than to slip into such thinking!