By Carol Lucas
The year was 1960, my freshman year of college. It was a time of excitement and anticipation for me, and I knew I had met a kindred spirit in my roommate, that is, in all ways but politics.
You see, she was an ardent proponent of Richard Nixon, and I was equally dedicated to the election of John F. Kennedy. After all, he was young, and the fact that he was handsome didn’t hurt. On the other hand, I saw Nixon as old, wizened, and a bit of a curmudgeon.
Remember, I was 18 years of age. That he resigned under a cloud is something I don’t bring up to her now. But I digress.
We would argue politics to the degree of our limited knowledge, but it was always with good humor. Both of us indulged in getting up silently in the middle of the night and removing the political poster of the other, both of which hung in our dorm room. I’m not sure who opted for that antic first (it surely couldn’t have been moi). However, we never resorted to destruction of the other’s cherished property. This is still a great memory.
I was drawn to this trip down memory lane last week when I saw the following post on the inimitable Facebook, repository for all good, evil, and in between. I am going to take the space to provide it in its entirety, because I believe it is a wake-up call, if you will. The quote was accompanied by a picture of Dwight Eisenhower and John Kennedy standing together.
“When real Democrats and Republicans were running our country, we didn’t hate each other. We didn’t vote for parties, we voted for ideas that came from both parties that made us better as a country. We didn’t label ideas or parties as racist, sexist or un-American. We did what we thought was best for ‘WE THE PEOPLE.’ And accepted the winner as a united country.”
Do I see this quote as the whole truth and nothing but the truth? In a word, no. I recognize that my naivete regarding the reality of the 60s has been greatly modified if not completely erased. Age will, hopefully, do that for most of us.
Only a true Pollyanna will fail to see the limitations of the quote. Long before this time I came to recognize what was so prevalent then, namely discrimination based upon race, gender, and a host of other ‘not-like-me’ prejudices.
But let’s look at the first sentence of the quote, that which addresses hate. Was there hate in the 60s between the political parties? Perhaps, but certainly not overtly displayed or flaunted with a sense of pride and the willingness to make it the driving force of our political system.
I’m more inclined to call it dislike and disbelief in what the other side of the aisle was proposing. In other words, compromise was not the dirty word that it is today.
Certainly the last sentence of the quote deserves attention. I have pulled no punches regarding my feelings about Donald Trump. I believe he deserves every bit of condemnation he is receiving, both verbally and legally. Four indictments with 92 counts? They can’t all be wrong, and anyone who tries to say otherwise is whistling in the wind. Furthermore, that he is a former president doesn’t grant him a pass.
There are those who will say that I hate Donald Trump. No, hate is such a strong word that I try very hard not to use it … well, maybe I use it when talking about my dislike of brussel sprouts.
What I despise and resent is his desire to bring this country to its knees and establish an autocracy. He aligns himself with dictators because he desires to be one himself. Make no mistake, Trump was the one to green-light the emergence of the hate that roiled beneath the surface, the hate felt by those people who have been marginalized.
Sadly, what they don’t realize is that he wouldn’t give them the time of day if he didn’t want their vote. And even more sad, he has made it clear that he relishes the power he has over the thinking, indeed the morals, of these people by saying, “I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and they would still support me.”
I have said before when writing this column that I am an Independent, moderate in my thinking, open to that politician whose policies reflect input from both sides. I have voted Republican on many occasions, even writing in their names when they were not running. I firmly believe radical governing from either end of the spectrum is dangerous.
In conclusion, I still have the occasion to talk to my “roomie” from college, and we laugh about those gentler days when it was fun to joke about our differences. We talk now about grandchildren, the passing of parents, those issues that encompass everyone’s life.
And yes, we still love one another for all we have gone through together, one a Republican, the other a Democrat, two women in their 80s who know what is important, that which doesn’t include hate.
Carol Lucas is a retired high school teacher and a Lady’s Island resident. She is the author of the recently published “A Breath Away: One Woman’s Journey Through Widowhood.”
