Saturday, July 26, 2014

More About Gramp

I've mentioned my grandfather several times recently, and I loved him a lot. However I must admit he was a bigot. Of course most people in his time were.

Gramp thought the minstrel shows he saw were accurate portrayals of African Americans.

He was prejudiced against Chinese people because he said the men had long braids, wore dresses, and took tiny steps like women.

And he told me men were better than women and boys were better than girls and there was nothing women could do that men couldn't do better. Even with regard to sewing and cooking the professional taylors and chefs were all men and women could only do those things well enough for their own families.

He was a product of his time and culture. 

I'm glad we've come a long way since the 1800s that shaped his beliefs.

Maybe in the future no humans will be prejudiced against others. We can always hope.

2 comments:

penelope anne cole said...

Hi Jan, I've seen prejudice in my family, too. On my mother's side they were from the South, so you know who they were prejudiced against. On my Dad's side it was probably everybody (Asians, Mexicans, Blacks), and he was a misogynist, too. Sad to say that's how it was. I hope we can end our days with more tolerance and understanding. But then look at the bullying, power plays, wars, dictatorships, etc., and you have to believe that there's evil in the world. Thanks for the post. Penny (www.penelopeannecole.com)

Janet Ann Collins said...

But, Penny, things are better than they used to be. Maybe eventually people won't be prejudiced about each other. Of course by then we may have anti-aliens-from-outer-space bigotry. ;-)