Politics

Over this past summer, my grandparents, my grandma’s mother, and myself have all attempted to live within the same house together.  Without me even saying anything, I’m sure you could imagine how much fun it has been.  I am 18 and my great-grandmother is 92.  It is quite the age difference.  All I am saying is I have found rocks in the yard younger than she is.  I feel guilty complaining about any of them, however, because they let me live with them free of charge.  So I will complain about them in minimal amounts (for now).

This has been a great learning experience for everyone involved, I think.  She has told me stories of times I only read about in my school history books.  I find it fascinating to actually speak with someone who has been there, and experienced what I was tested over in classrooms.

With that being said, there is also a HUGE cultural gap.  It is to be expected.  She grew up in a time when it was widely accepted that a white man was better than a black man.  I get the feeling she knows that this has been abandoned as time went on, but she also has trouble hiding what she was taught to believe.  One night a movie came on that had Queen Latifah among the cast.  She said she loves her and would like to watch it too.  As she gets up to move to where she can see the movie, she asks, “Is it an all black movie?  I like some, but not movies with all blacks.”

To say the least, I was a bit shocked to hear the words uttered from her mouth!  I was always taught equality.  I actually ignored her question and let her find out for herself.  As it turns out, she loved the movie!  I wanted to rub her nose in it, but thought it best to stay quiet.

I learned from this moment that her racism is not totally her fault.  As I said, she grew up in a time when this was socially acceptable; I grew up in a time when it was not.  I knew she would not change now, and neither will I on that subject.

Unfortunately, she is also a republican, as is most of my family.  I am a democrat.  When I announced my dislike for many of the republican politicians, the reaction was as if I had told them I murdered someone.  They take a conservative approach while I think that cutting the budget is okay, just not from programs we need (such as education perhaps?).

While I am on the subject of politics, let me give a brief explanation of what I think.  First, I do not like the way the government is going.  At one time, a political career was unheard of.  This is why term limits were imposed upon the Presidents.  It was believed that any one man serving for longer than his term risks becoming a ruler or a tyrant.  What changed?  Somehow it was decided that a person could be in the political world forever.  The whole idea of our government is to represent the people and what they want.  As it stands now, politicians like to do what they want and what will further their careers.  They like to vote as their party votes, just so the opposite side won’t “win.”  I would love to see some new faces come in and shake things up, but I also don’t foresee that happening anytime soon.

Anyway, I now like to take the opportunity to shove the democratic world in her face, just for fun.  For example, when she hears that a republican wants to make cuts to something that she doesn’t think should be cut, I say something like, “well the democrats would never do something like that!”  She doesn’t find it nearly as funny as I do.

It was tough at times, living with three others who were at least triple my age.  I realized, though, that we all come from different places and times.  We all were raised in different ways and it is not my place to tell anyone he or she is wrong simply because it doesn’t coincide with what I believe.  My 92 year-old grandmother gave birth to my family and has most definitely earned the right to speak her mind.  When others ask why she says what she says or does what she does, I explain it as simply as I know how – “she is old.”