{thread} 1/n I was raised by a father who turned out to be a racist. I loved him. But working in his sheet metal factory as a teen, I learned trust & respect from my coworkers in Tuckahoe, mostly African-Americans and Portuguese immigrants.
2/n I learned about the Holocaust in school, of course, but I understood the Holocaust through the lens of a German survivor of Hitler’s putsch, who limped permanently from a 1932 gunshot. He was the shop foreman.
3/n I learned about sexual abuse being in the Boy Scouts, after being assaulted there; that’s when I started realizing there were boys who liked boys. I was confused, but hated the individual, and the Scouts for doing nothing.
4/n I learned about religious teaching in Sunday school. Our attendance at the Presbyterian church suddenly was terminated after an anti-war sermon on US involvement in Vietnam. On to become a Methodist.
5/n I became a marksman in the Scouts. But never forgot what was happening all around me. I resolved to never pick up a gun again to point it at any human being. I did once have to shoot a rattlesnake once to save our ignorant (favorite) cat.
6/n I left the Scouts, the church, and became both politically and scientifically curious, and then active, in junior high. My science and history teachers had a lot to do with that. So did my mother, who cheered me on, mostly in private.
7/n In high school, I practiced not being racist, prejudiced. Met my first “nice” gay people and realized they are individuals and not serial assaulters. Black students were friends. People who were losing relatives to war.
8/n In college, I learned so much more, had Puerto Rican classmates and folks from all over. I thrived. But I wasn’t yet an adult even though I married my high school sweetheart at 19, some 43 years ago.
9/n We raised 14 children, through childbirth, adoption, fostering. Our kids and grandkids give us joy and love. I don’t understand racism except it seems like people get pigeon-holed by their experiences.
10/n Whether raised that way, or from a dramatic/traumatic event, labels get attached and imprinted. We need to not harden our hearts so much. Let go of our prejudices. Stop labeling people!
11/n In graduate school, I lived in LA (Hollywood) for a year. I met my first queer/trans people. They were human, too. That same year, we had our first child. Family first, more important than a job. I was learning how to adult.
12/n In Oregon, finally after a year in LA, I began to better appreciate the environment. I was focused on betterment of me and the ones I loved, and even understood poverty first-hand for a time.
13/n As a prof, having to move across country to Florida for a job, I was determined to do right by others. My lab became a safe space. I instilled values in others to be supportive of women and minorities in their struggles.
14/n I confess to making many mistakes in my journey, and try to own up to them. I am s lifelong learner, and I’m not so obtuse to think that I still can’t learn more. However, we now live in a very strange time.
15/n Is it right that men in power continually lie about what and why they are doing or did, and to whom? Is it normal for men to sexually harass people and not suffer consequences?
16/n Is it normal for politicians to excuse past bad behavior to stay in office once their muck has been raked? There should be accountability. There should be contrition. But labeling and judging because of a label?
17/n [n=18(yay!)] Everyone has skeletons. Let’s use our votes wisely. Let’s stamp out discrimination. Imagine 🎶. Answers may be in your heart. Gov. Northam: please resign and go home. ☮️❤️
{end} #ScienceNotSilence #Resist #PolicyOverParty #EnvironmentalJustice #Liberty
Signed, a citizen of 🌍 🌎 🌏
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