I now live in Rochester, NY, which is the third largest city in the state. Rochester, like most of the "urban archipelagos" in America, is quite a liberal city. Rainbow-colored banners proclaiming "We Don't Support the Bush Agenda" fly from the balconies of homes, and stickers stating "Support Our Troops: Impeach Bush" can be seen on the bumpers of hybrid cars in the local co-op.
But I grew up in a small town of about 15,000 that is 25 miles south of Rochester, and liberal it is NOT. While I was growing up there were only a handful of minority families living in the city. Maybe 1 or 2 Jewish families. And the mindset of my hometown is "White is right, America is number one, and anyone 'different' is suspect." Not a very tolerant place. My friends and family were not immune from this mindset; sometimes I think that I was the only one to escape the town a true-blue liberal.
Since moving back to the area 4 years ago, I've made a practice of going back to my hometown on Sundays to visit my mother and my sister and her family, who both still live there. While there I'll spend time visiting with my mother, do yardwork and housework for her, and then visit my sister and her family, including my niece and nephew. Part of this ritual also includes having "coffee and cake" with my mother and my uncle and aunt after they return from church in the morning.
The talk during coffee is usually fairly banal; church gossip, talk of friends who have died or been taken sick, the weather, how the Buffalo Bills are doing...I often bite my cheek and hope that the talk doesn't turn to politics or race or sexuality or anything the least bit controversial. I know that my viewpoints don't match theirs, especially my uncle, the former marine, who sometimes lets the "N" word slip from his lips. (My family is what I would call "benign racists." Their mindset comes more from an unfamiliarity with those of other races and ethnicities rather than an out-and-out hatred; none would every do anything harmful against another. If I believed that they could, then I wouldn't sit down and share food and conversation with them...)
This past Sunday, things progressed as usual, but as the coffee and cake were served, the topic of discussion turned almost immediately to Bush and his politics. I believe that it segued from talk of the Pope's funeral, and how Jimmy Carter had been unfairly excluded from the U.S. delegation. I braced myself for conservative talking points; support for the war, concerns with Social Security, yet was shocked when the table, led by my uncle, unleashed a vitriolic attack on Bush and his policies. "He hasn't done one thing right since he was elected," said my uncle. "He's gotten us into a war that he can't get us out of..." he continued. "And now he's trying to screw up Social Security," added my aunt. "We can barely survive on what it pays now," said my mother, "they should just leave it alone."
The talk continued like this for quite a while. I was literally speechless. Besides, what could I add? Normally I'm biting my tongue, holding back from scolding one of them for making a "politically incorrect" statement, but now they were preaching to the choir. My uncle, visibly excited from his tirade, finally turned to me and asked, "Don't you think I'm right?" I had to hold back a laugh; I smiled as I told him that I was probably the most liberal person that he comes in contact with, and that all the Bush bashing was perfectly fine with me.
I think a sea change is occurring for the Republicans when they can no longer garner the support of small-town, middle-of-the-road Americans. The hostility towards Bush and his agenda was palpable in the small kitchen of my mother's home yesterday, and hopefully the genuinely good people of this country are waking up to the horrible ideology of this current administration.
