Re: When liberals lie down with wolves

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Robert Scott Gassler wrote:
>
> It seemed to matter to a lot of radicals from Northeastern suburbs who were
> rebelling against their parents who ran the "establishment". They
> complained about how John Lindsay said he was not a racist but really did
> this and this and this... They also would say, "I'd rather meet a racist
> than a liberal. At least the racist would be open about it."

Well now. I became politically active in my mid-30s, and up to that
point my father had always been rather further to the left than me. I've
always suspected that had he not spent the '30s in a tuberculosis
sanitariumm he might well have joined the CPUSA. So I was hardly
rebelling against my parents (and I often complained at the time about
the SDS members who confused their parents with the Empire. Also,
Bloomington/Normal Illinois isn't quite a "northeastern" suburb.

BUT. In fact the serious opposition to civil-rights activity _and_ to
the anti-war movement around here were mostly (self-labelled) liberals.
I remember the sociology professor who would not sign a statement sin
support of a black person on trial, his reason being that one should not
interfere with the court process from outside. Then there were all those
people who continually chanted, "We agree with your goals but we
disagree with your methods." Translation: Wait a few generations until
we can get to heaven on  a rocking chair.

Carrol










>
> As a Texan who grew up with conservative racists with shotguns and axe
> handles, I can assure you there are far worse things than being a liberal.
>
> Scott Gassler
>
> At 00:44 13/03/05, Michael Hoover wrote:
> > >>> dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx 03/11/05 4:44 PM >>>
> >Why does it matter so much what "liberals" say and do? It's not 1970
> >anymore.
> >Doug
> ><<<<<>>>>>
> >
> >why did it matter then...   michael hoover
> >
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> Robert Scott Gassler
> Professor of Economics
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