When I was a kid the prevailing attitude of the US was very anti-homosexual. I picked up from my peers using the word “gay” as an insult. I learned better over time, but there was still that period where I was part of the crowd.
Looking at photos of the horrors of the violent reactions to the Civil Rights movement was a wake up call to a lot of Americans. But prior to that it was still an invisible issue to white people.
I like to think I would do the moral thing in that position, but who would I really be in 1955? The parents that raised me would be different, my peers would have been different, television and radio would have been different. This is why I think it’s impossible to know, a very abstract hypothetical. And you can call bullshit on that if you want, fair enough.
Some of the comments here are inferring ideas that I don’t hold and never intended, and it’s frustrating to address them all. There are aspects of history that I thought we all took for granted, and it’s not necessary to reference them every time.
When we say “Elvis” what are we talking about, the person, or the icon, and who decides what the icon represents? I think both are complicated and imperfect.
I would never flag this. And I am listening and learning. If I say “that a great quote” it’s because I really mean it not because I am being condescending. I recognize that I crossed the line in regards to other’s lived experiences and apologize to everyone here (and I already apologized privately to some people.)
I’m just not very good at this.
