Lincoln, Robinson, Milk
Thoughts on 42
Came home last night after seeing 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson, and all I could think about was the movie Lincoln. Both movies were about extroadinary people who made the US better. Lincoln whose pragmatic nature shifted to powerful idealism made the rule of the land equal for all. Robinson, who broke the code that kept inequality alive. Both true heroes for all time.
Both lived in wretched times. The US was not living up to the powerful ideas that brought the nation into being. After both did what they did, we became a more perfect union. And this made this typically cynical pessimist see a better nation ahead.
When I was born, most white women could only find work as teachers, nurses, or secretaries. Opportunities for black men and women were even less than those for white women. I remember hearing white men addressing grown black men as "boy." A non-heterosexual person had to hide who he or she was from everyone. A couple comprised of different races or faiths would cause scandal or violence. Hispanics were barely seen, hidden from sight working on farms. People were worried that a Catholic running for president would take orders from the pope if elected. Most Mormons lived in Utah, their faith widely misunderstood in the rest of the country. "Gentlemen's agreements" against Jews in business and education had only recently been lifted.
Move forward fifty years. I see a female doctor. A man of mixed race is president. A Hispanic man is a rumored contendor for the next president. A Mormon receivied nearly half the vote for the office. Persons of non-heterosexual identities can live their lives openly and, in more and more states, receive the rights of heterosexuals in marriage and civil law.
We saw a short movie called Legal Stranger which chronicled the birth of a daughter to a lesbian couple in Virginia. The birth mother is the mother legally of the child. Her partner who she married in DC, is a "legal stranger" to the child who cannot adopt the child should the mother die. Some of my former students find themselves in this limbo because they are raising children but live in the south.
Yes, it is obvious that homosexuals should have civil rights in all states, but making things for the better is a slow process. Making things for the worse is always lightning fast. The time between the conception and the creation of the internment camps for Japanese Americans, the Patriot Act, and the Guantanamo Detention Facility was measured in weeks. It takes time for the better nature of people to overcome basic resistance to any change whatsoever. To make the most basic improvement in American society, the eradication of slavery, hundreds of thousands of Americans died and much of the country was laid waste. Inter-racial marriage was illegal in most states until recently.
A couple weeks after writing the above, I saw Milk, the story of Harvey Milk. It had the same affect on me as Lincoln and 42. Crying with joy that the right thing finally happens. Our society has not been cured of gay-bashing, both rhetorically and, as seen in Ohio recently, physically, but we will get better with every passing year. Hope is a magical word in the movie and in life.
Came home last night after seeing 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson, and all I could think about was the movie Lincoln. Both movies were about extroadinary people who made the US better. Lincoln whose pragmatic nature shifted to powerful idealism made the rule of the land equal for all. Robinson, who broke the code that kept inequality alive. Both true heroes for all time.
Both lived in wretched times. The US was not living up to the powerful ideas that brought the nation into being. After both did what they did, we became a more perfect union. And this made this typically cynical pessimist see a better nation ahead.
When I was born, most white women could only find work as teachers, nurses, or secretaries. Opportunities for black men and women were even less than those for white women. I remember hearing white men addressing grown black men as "boy." A non-heterosexual person had to hide who he or she was from everyone. A couple comprised of different races or faiths would cause scandal or violence. Hispanics were barely seen, hidden from sight working on farms. People were worried that a Catholic running for president would take orders from the pope if elected. Most Mormons lived in Utah, their faith widely misunderstood in the rest of the country. "Gentlemen's agreements" against Jews in business and education had only recently been lifted.
Move forward fifty years. I see a female doctor. A man of mixed race is president. A Hispanic man is a rumored contendor for the next president. A Mormon receivied nearly half the vote for the office. Persons of non-heterosexual identities can live their lives openly and, in more and more states, receive the rights of heterosexuals in marriage and civil law.
We saw a short movie called Legal Stranger which chronicled the birth of a daughter to a lesbian couple in Virginia. The birth mother is the mother legally of the child. Her partner who she married in DC, is a "legal stranger" to the child who cannot adopt the child should the mother die. Some of my former students find themselves in this limbo because they are raising children but live in the south.
Yes, it is obvious that homosexuals should have civil rights in all states, but making things for the better is a slow process. Making things for the worse is always lightning fast. The time between the conception and the creation of the internment camps for Japanese Americans, the Patriot Act, and the Guantanamo Detention Facility was measured in weeks. It takes time for the better nature of people to overcome basic resistance to any change whatsoever. To make the most basic improvement in American society, the eradication of slavery, hundreds of thousands of Americans died and much of the country was laid waste. Inter-racial marriage was illegal in most states until recently.
A couple weeks after writing the above, I saw Milk, the story of Harvey Milk. It had the same affect on me as Lincoln and 42. Crying with joy that the right thing finally happens. Our society has not been cured of gay-bashing, both rhetorically and, as seen in Ohio recently, physically, but we will get better with every passing year. Hope is a magical word in the movie and in life.
Comments
Post a Comment