COLUMN: I should've schleped!
by Erica Lome
Issue date: 11/5/08 Section: News
When I heard about comedian Sarah Silverman's grand plan, The Great Schlep, I gave it a good chuckle and then promptly forgot about it. The Great Schlep is this: Jewish grandchildren make the journey to Florida to convince their grandparents not to vote for John McCain.
How do you motivate them? Threaten to never come visit them. Believe me, this is a Jewish grandparent's worst nightmare. I come from a pretty liberal Democrat family. We're in support for Obama, and I had believed that this sentiment would carry throughout all generations of the Lome clan. Low and behold, my father tells me the other day that my Florida-ridden grandparents did the unthinkable: they voted for McCain. Why oh why would they do this?
My dad told me it was simple: my grandparents are kind, good and loving people who would never hurt anyone. However, they are of a particular generation whose views are so set in their psyche that all of the leaps and bounds we've made in society cannot budge them in their opinions.
Simply put, they cannot bring themselves to vote for a black man. They agree with almost everything Barack Obama stands for and publicly claim they are in support of him. Privately, they cannot get over prejudices that were a cultural and social norm when they were growing up.
My Grandfather denied to my dad that their decision was based on race, saying "We had heard some things about Obama that concerned us, so we made the decision not to vote for
him."
We all knew this excuse was just that: an excuse. Do I love my grandparents any less? Of course not! Something like this cannot change the 17 years of complete love they've given me. However, it is sad to think that they represent a whole generation of people who, despite their good intentions, may never see the world the way we do.
Whether or not that way is the right way is up to debate, and I wonder if 60 years from now we will be the ones 'set in our ways.'
I don't think The Great Schlep would have made a difference at all, but if your grandparents have yet to vote, at least make the call and try to bridge the generational gap that divides us. Who knows? It might change our country!
Erica Lome is a sophomore at Bard College at Simon's Rock.
How do you motivate them? Threaten to never come visit them. Believe me, this is a Jewish grandparent's worst nightmare. I come from a pretty liberal Democrat family. We're in support for Obama, and I had believed that this sentiment would carry throughout all generations of the Lome clan. Low and behold, my father tells me the other day that my Florida-ridden grandparents did the unthinkable: they voted for McCain. Why oh why would they do this?
My dad told me it was simple: my grandparents are kind, good and loving people who would never hurt anyone. However, they are of a particular generation whose views are so set in their psyche that all of the leaps and bounds we've made in society cannot budge them in their opinions.
Simply put, they cannot bring themselves to vote for a black man. They agree with almost everything Barack Obama stands for and publicly claim they are in support of him. Privately, they cannot get over prejudices that were a cultural and social norm when they were growing up.
My Grandfather denied to my dad that their decision was based on race, saying "We had heard some things about Obama that concerned us, so we made the decision not to vote for
him."
We all knew this excuse was just that: an excuse. Do I love my grandparents any less? Of course not! Something like this cannot change the 17 years of complete love they've given me. However, it is sad to think that they represent a whole generation of people who, despite their good intentions, may never see the world the way we do.
Whether or not that way is the right way is up to debate, and I wonder if 60 years from now we will be the ones 'set in our ways.'
I don't think The Great Schlep would have made a difference at all, but if your grandparents have yet to vote, at least make the call and try to bridge the generational gap that divides us. Who knows? It might change our country!
Erica Lome is a sophomore at Bard College at Simon's Rock.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 9
anon
posted 11/08/08 @ 3:48 PM EST
I suppose it never occurred to you that maybe that have a good grasp on economics and maybe that's why they decided to vote for McCain?
Has it ever occurred to you that voting for Obama simply because he is black is racist? Did you notice that the people screaming the most about race were the Democrats in this past election?
There are t-shirts going around that say, "My president is black" thats fine but if someone wore a t-shirt that said, "My president is white" that person would instantly be branded a racist. (Continued…)
resp.
posted 11/09/08 @ 1:26 PM EST
your response to this article shows how embarrassingly misinformed you are about racism. there's a massive difference between black mistrust of powerful white people and white mistrust of powerful black people, just as there is between the kkk and the new black panthers--one is a hate group, dedicated to the violent upholding of social evils, and the other is a revolutionary political party which exists to overthrow the aspects of our society which are racist. (Continued…)
anon
posted 11/09/08 @ 7:56 PM EST
lol- i'm part black and part hispanic....but you are right I prolly wouldn't know anything about racism.
Penny Alverton
posted 3/05/09 @ 12:27 PM EST
Cheers for writing about this. FYI - here's some more info about watch bones you might like!
Courtney Shakeshaft
posted 3/09/09 @ 6:39 AM EST
Nice review! Thanks!
Justine Clarke
posted 3/11/09 @ 3:51 AM EST
Cheers for writing about this. FYI - here's some more info about watch bones you might like!
Teresa Carder
posted 3/14/09 @ 3:32 PM EST
Thanks to author! I like articles like this about , very interesting.
Guastella Askin
posted 4/17/09 @ 3:10 AM EST
Good scene, interesting post, thanks.
Jane Sheets
posted 6/20/09 @ 3:16 PM EST
wow, this brings back some great memories! it seems like just yesterday i was watching all of these great shows, and more great shows. this homecoming theme has been so much fun!
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