POLITICAL

The Children of the 1950s Are Today’s Trump Voters

This is nothing new

What you see above was a 1950s Superman poster promoting unity and anti-discrimination. Because it could be copyrighted, I blurred it out. It originally showed Superman talking to a group of children, with a speech bubble reading: “And remember, boys and girls, your school — like our country — is made up of Americans of many different races, religions, and national origins.” Below, the poster advises: “If YOU hear anybody talk against a schoolmate or anyone else because of his religion, race, or national origin — don’t wait: tell him THAT KIND OF TALK IS UN-AMERICAN.” The bottom text says, “Help Keep Your School All American!”

I grew up in the 1950s. Those kids in the poster were not representative of the almost completely white, predominantly Jewish town where I grew up. There were almost no POC in our town. I think there were two families and I only knew one of them. Homosexuals were always in the closet. Abortions were illegal.

I saw Catholics bully Jewish kids. I interceded once to stop them, but I was also nasty to a Jewish friend once when I was angry with him. None of the other kids shamed me for that — they should have.

I saw abuse and ridicule of poor people, the less intelligent, the misfits. I…