Chapter 2 of One Summer Season

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Donald Trump-Harry Truman link? Yes

My first thoughts when I considered my subject here was that my considerations were preposterous. It seemed as if no link between die-hard Democrat Harry Truman and the pompous Donald Trump could be possible. Their politics are almost polar opposites, Truman being the ultimate liberal and Trump the reactionary right winger. Truman was a Missouri farm boy, Trump the heir to a New York real estate empire. Truman was humble, Trump arrogant. Truman is said to always look to find the best in humans, Trump shows he can find the worst whenever it is expedient. However, there are three attributes that make them twins in history, the least of which is that their names are very close in spelling. 1. Political savvy about the electorate. First, both Truman and Trump were expected to be routed on Election Day. Thomas Dewey was far ahead in the polls in the months leading up to the 1948 election. Truman's popularity at the end of World War II plummeted in the years after. He then launched wha...
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Let's end the terminology of "white privilege"

I am not afraid to state my views that the term "white privilege" should be erased from this and all subsequent debates about Caucasians and people of color. I do not hold a view that the racial injustices seen in multiple police incidents or the flying of Nazi or Confederate flags is not blatantly racist. What I am saying is that the term invites a reality that should be banished for all Americans, the idea that a person is judged and found guilty simply by the color of one's skin. The focus should be on the true causes behind such incidents: racial bias, racial discrimination, racial hatred, white nationalism, and other cancers on our society. Not all whites are biased, practice discrimination or hatred, but you can't talk about that with a group of white privilege believers. They know the guilty because they see skin color. Why do they stick so doggedly to such beliefs? It's easy. You don't have to know someone, talk with them about beliefs, and weigh ...
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Wrestling with the idea of white privilege

A former co-worker was the first I saw charge that all Caucasian employees have the advantage of white privilege. I laughed and labeled it as the latest wave of thought designed to find perpetrators for victims. I laughed because of my upbringing. I was born in The Dalles, Oregon, which isn't an epicenter of wealth and status. It's a town of about 10,000 residents on the banks of the Columbia River. It is known for cherries, wheat, winds funneled through the Columbia River Gorge, and a key historic spot for Lewis and Clark and the pioneers who ventured west on the Oregon Trail. It was a good place to grow up, at least for me. It was small enough that you had the feeling all residents were neighbors. A downside was that you were often known by who your parents were. I was often introduced as Eldon's boy, or Virginia's boy. I was the third child of three, so I also was known as Steve's little brother, or John's little brother. It also was a town with a racist ...
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