Another San Francisco Story
My "escape" from my Missouri "Hell-Hole" in 1959, landed be in Berkeley, CA in 1959, and San Francisco in 1960. Both were pristine and well-managed municipalities, then. I found San Francisco most fascinating for its stunning beauty and its open, and very vibrant, "ethnic" communities. One of them was the "White" Russian community. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Russia
The most shocking aspect of my transition was to learn how "human" white people could be. The White Russian family I met taught me a lot of the history of Russia and how their people fled to China when the Communists came to power in Russia. Other people I met and befriended included whites of Serbian extraction and a white from South Dakota. I learned to polka at a Serbian beer hall in San Francisco. The whites I met there all had a "human" characteristic I did not find among white Missourians. The ex-Nazi immigrants I met were ashamed of their past. Although not totally "race-neutral", they were very different from the malignant racists I grew up around. The blacks, Asians, and persons from all other parts of the world, all blended well in San Francisco in 1960. Housing segregation existed there, however, targeted against blacks and Jews.
Those were the days of HUAC (if you think Boehner's "House" is bad ...) and every college student was sensitive to anything "Russian". J Edgar and his FBI were "foaming at the mouth" fascists in those days, as were many members of Congress. (Remember, Hitler gleaned many of his ideas and beliefs from the Americas). HUAC was formed in 1938. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee
Bogardus' Social Distance data showed Russians to be popular in the United States in the 1920's. There is a long history of Russian immigrants (not all of them Jews) in the United States.
Fast forward to 2013, the Cold War has ended (we think), the Soviet Union is gone, J. Edgar and his ass-hole buddy LBJ are both dead. Our first black President announced last night on "entertainment T.V." that he will not be bullied by the Cold War "remnant" that now leads what's left of the old Soviet Union.
Stay Vigilant! Will the ride from here get rougher? Or, Not? Our focus has shifted to the Middle East.
Copyright © 2013: Williams LLC
All Rights Reserved: Williams LLC
No comments:
Post a Comment