Re: [Leica] Jim, Walt, Richard Jewell (LONG!)

[Walter S Delesandri <walt@jove.acs.unt.edu>]

Very well written Al, and a bit of truth here an there.....
unfortunately, you have placed me in a group that I might 
have LIKED to be in, but wasn't....first, I wasn't born in 
l955.  Secondly, my ancestors didn't come to this country 
until after WW-I.  Also, they died still signing an X for their 
name, after working, sometimes indentured, as "share croppers".
(no, they weren't just blacks- sorry your "generation" thinks 
that people of so-called "color" were the only ones abused)

Yes, some of them fought in WW-II.  To protect subsequent 
generation (all colors, Americans all) from facism as they 
saw in Italy, or the so-called "communism" they saw in other 
parts of the world.  As for gender identity, they didn't 
care, nor do I (between consenting adults, in private, just 
like us "straights" do--it's only legal for us in private, 
remember).  However, if you personally dislike a group, they 
also defended your right to speak/write about it.  But not 
to assault said group.  These rights were gradually removed 
just in the last 10-20 years, of course.....as for women, 
my family didn't really think about it, as the women had exactly 
the same jobs in the fields and factories as the men--of course,
they received the same pay (tiny) and the same benefits (none).
But they fought and scraped for a better life, without the 
governmental intrusions (federal, state, local, and institutional) 
that THEIR ancestors suffered....and they NEARLY succeeded.
Unfortunately, some of the unlucky ones lived to ages of 75-90, 
which means that they've seen MY (and YOUR, obviously) generation 
give up the individual rights and lack of governmental intrusion 
that they succeeded in guaranteeing for us.

As I said, your prose is admirable....your ability to interweave 
cynism likewise.  I'm sure that your characterization fits 
a large number of folks....without knowing my age/occupation/
circle of accquaintences, you just picked the wrong target, Al.

It's not the "hate" groups I fear.....let the Klan and Arian 
youth and Jesse Jackson (oops, I >ASSUME< you also refer to 
hate mongers of "color") have their rallies....we'll still 
prosecute them in Texas if they step over the line. (read the 
news)

It's the "good" people looking after me and us that I fear the 
most.

Walt

On Sun,
28
Feb
1999, Al Edwards wrote:

> 
> 
> Walter S Delesandri wrote:
> 
> > standard of living, we Americans (yes, USA) have been sitting
> > on our asses letting our individual freedoms and lack of governmental
> > intrusion be taken away by zealous political/legislative activity.
> 
> For those of you outside the United States, I will venture to translate,as Walt
> has requested.
> 
> Many Americans of Walt's generation have lived to see a transition
> in the behavior of the United States government towards its citizens.
> In Walt's boyhood, members of all manner of suspect groups and
> races were routinely stomped on by the government, the press, and
> the private sector. Americans of Japanese ancestry were put into
> concentration camps, union organizers were beaten until they hemorrhaged,
> homosexuals were called 'fairies' or 'perverts', nonwhites and women
> enjoyed limited-to-nonexistent economic opportunities, and the FBI and
> other government organizations harassed and intimidated American
> citizens, keeping files on people considered subversives---Sandy
> Koufax, for example---and trying to blackmail Martin Luther King
> into committing suicide.
> 
> Meanwhile, Walt and other members of his generation and background
> worked hard, many of them rising from having little material wealth to
> a standard of living their parents never could have imagined. The
> continually-expanding U.S. economy provided opportunities for
> a segment of the American population to better themselves, and
> many look back quite proudly on their productive lives, and
> rightly so. Some members of this generation made great sacrifices
> at places like Omaha Beach, Okinawa, or Korea that younger
> Americans like myself should be damn grateful we never had to
> make: every U.S. citizen under 35 should be forced to watch the first
> 30 minutes of 'Saving Private Ryan'.
> 
> Meanwhile, for many Americans, not necessarily the same
> race or subculture that Walt might consider 'red-blooded',
> didn't enjoy the same opportunities, and for some reason
> many in Walt's generation didn't notice this. Perhaps because
> they were raised in an era when it was more acceptable to
> see other races as inferior, or pehaps because of a sense
> that anyone the government was harassing must deserve it---after
> all, they weren't harassing red-blooded Americans---Walt
> and  Jim are able to see the U.S. of 1955 as a paradise
> built by cheerful non-Union labor, where everyone had lots
> of opportunity.
> 
> It is this that makes Richard Jewell so scary to Jim: Richard
> Jewell is about as nondescript and nonthreatening a typical
> white American as you can find, and for a change someone
> that Jim could imagine to be himself. It is not the acts perpetrated
> in the case of Richard Jewell that are anything new, it is the object.
> Jim and Walt think things have been getting worse because they
> are ignorant of the treatment the establishment has dished
> out for generations. Things might indeed be getting worse, but
> it seems that their perception of this is colored by the
> the government (or the wealthy, or whoever you hate) now
> screwing U.S. citizens more democratically without regard to race,
> creed, or color.
> 
> I have learned much from Jim's posts to this group
> newsgroup, and I read every one of Walt's posts, often
> laughing out loud at his witty, biting sarcasm that is so
> intelligent. These are intelligent men whose experience
> and observations we would be foolish to ignore. It
> is well worth our forbearance in tolerating their disgusting
> and perverted behaviour at the polling place. Just remember
> that when they say 'we', they are not always referring to all
> U.S. citizens.
> 
> -Al
> 
>