Women and African Americans

I’ve always had this fascination with World War Two and the subsequent birth of the American Dream. After the war, there were powers-to-be among the military, political, industrial complex that wanted factory production work to continue. This focus on innovation, mass production and the growth of a consumer society all lent itself to exponential growth in the fifties and sixties. Good for some but as this book points out, it wasn’t fortuitous for women or minorities of any flavor.

The GI Bill and other government programs hyper-charged the growth of the middle class among millions of returning veterans.  It foresaw the advent of mass housing production and expansion out from the cities to the suburbs. Innovation in technology and communications soared. But for all the wonderful opportunities that were a part of this radical change in American society, two main groups of Americans were often left by the wayside; women and African Americans.

While I was aware of the role of women and minorities in the massive industrial growth during that period, I didn’t know about the hardships and prejudice both parties suffered during the war.

The book explains: ‘From the fall of France in the summer of 1940 to V-J Day in August of 1945, more than seventeen million Americans, or fourteen percent of the population, served in the armed forces of World War II. For millions more at home, a booming wartime economy produced a remarkable prosperity that ended the Great Depression, sparked a postwar economic miracle, and made the American Dream of suburban homes, shopping centers, and modern kitchens a reality.’

But during the war years, the challenges of housing, continuing segregation, universal child care and other domestic issues also dominated the American way of life. Reporters found that with more than twenty-five million men, women and children crowding into new centers of the war industry, the fabric of American life had unraveled.

The war emergency strained a tenuous racial balance to the point of violence. The social turmoil produced by the war also placed unprecedented pressures on family and home life. In the absence of social and governmental support, working mothers and their children bore a disproportionate burden. Not quite the picture painted by the newsreels seen at the movies or the image of John Wayne that I grew up with.

Advertisements in newspapers and magazines talked about life after the war assuming it would be for everyone. Yet after the war, African Americans found that those opportunities promised often disappeared and women in general were relegated back to the kitchen so men could get their old jobs back again. Masking much of that disparity for woman and African Americans was the economic growth brought on by pent-up demand over the years. I grew up during that economic growth and it seemed all wonderful to me, especially the vibes from out West.

Southern California seemed to be epicenter for the new America that came about after the war. Millions flocked to its golden beaches, lush mountains and deep valleys. Industrial and creative jobs attracted young families, each seeking their own version of the ‘American Dream.’ It was roughly twenty years of exponential growth benefiting many but also still excluding others.

The euphoria of ‘happily ever after’ lasted for, perhaps, twenty years before cracks began to appear in the American dream. Behind that façade of the iconic ‘golden state’ were the growing civil rights upheavals and women’s rights movements. The decade of the Sixties blew the lid off that happy smiling white couple and exposed the underbelly of inequality and injustice. Throughout the Sixties great strides were made to recognize the equality of women and African Americans and gays.

While the older generation of women and African Americans had to endure a return to inequality after the war, it was later generations that reaped the reward of their endurance, hard work, and persistence. It’s not perfect now nor will it ever be. But things have changed for the better for new generations of women and disadvantaged groups of people.

My two adult children work in areas of business where women compete equally with men for job opportunities. People of color have made tremendous strides in areas long denied them. While there is still a long way to go, it’s a far cry from the blatant segregation and inequality thrust upon their forefathers before and during World War Two.

While they’re still too young to fully appreciate the sacrifices made by past generations, I do believe my grandchildren will someday come to recognize what their grandparents and great grandparents did to make it a better world for them to live in. It’s a mindset I hope they will pay it forward for future generations.

Old White Guy

I’m a relic. Some would say a dinosaur; almost an endangered species. Even worse, I’m straight, middle class, Catholic (sort of), neither right nor left but comfortably ensconced in the middle depending on the issue/s. In other words, I’m an average old white guy and clearly out of flavor for the times.

Old white guys are no longer the norm. In fact, we’re the enemy to many in our progressive society. That’s a real issue with some other white guys I know. They’re uncomfortable with all this talk about our immigration policies, our hard earned money going overseas and talk about abuse in the Catholic Church. These and a raft of other political and social issues that up until now they’ve felt they had no say about.

They have a host of people, places, and things to point their fingers at. Forget the fact that as the one finger points outward, the others fold back at the accuser. I suspect one of their favorite culprits, the swinging sixties, had a lot to do with it. Civil rights, women’s rights, gay liberation, and sexual freedom all pointed the way toward a more democratic, fairer, and more equitable world for those oppressed among us.

When analysts and pundits were trying to figure out how Donald Trump won the White House, they happened upon this disgruntled majority who felt like a minority. They documented this group’s feeling of unattachment to the success of the rest of the country. We’re told they felt threatened by the browns and blacks stealing their jobs. They believed their old order was under attack and only a return to the world of Ozzie and Harriett was the answer.

Now we have the MeToo movement churning up the business and entertainment waters trolling for past offenders. The Golden Globes and Academy Awards celebrate their diversity in hosting, awards and acknowledgements. A closer examination of theaters in many cities finds a definite slant toward new words by women of color, members of the LGBT community and other often ignored members of our greater society. The odd man out in this equation is the average white guy because he had played such a prominent role in American history for the past two hundred plus years.

Many will argue instead of dress up, the time is ripe for real change and they couldn’t be more spot on. These changes have been a long time in coming and should be welcomed by everyone in our society. Unfortunately, as so often happens, what is good for the gander can be curtains for the goose.

It’s not really that bad for us old White guys, and the pendulum will swing the other way over time. All of those other tribes that haven’t had a chance at the opportunity that is the United States of America should experience the full scope of what this country has to offer.

For many of those newly enfranchised folks will come the realization that their difference will, in time, not make any difference at all. They will then be judged by the width and breath of their talent, their commitment and their dedication to their goal, focus, art and passion. Then the color of their skin and their gender and sexual orientation will take a back seat to their talent …just as it should.

Maybe in some far off distant future we won’t notice the color of their skin, their gender, their sexual orientation, and only focus on the important thing; their soul and ‘are they a good person.’

Just sayin’.