Boy, it’s tough not to see how out of touch the Grand Old Party is with the rest of the country. Most people know, of course, that all of the republican members of congress are white. The republicans do not have even one person of color in national elected office.
What I found surprising in the coverage of the convention is not the near absence of anything but white faces, but also that they also seem to be old. This is not the party of youth. It is not the party of new ideas. It appears to be the last gasp of a fading party.
In my experience, one can delay progress but cannot stop it nor return to the past. There seems to be an unstoppable movement towards full embrace the promise of the “American experiment” that all (people) are created equal. At every step that I remember — starting with ending segregation — the conservatives have been in opposition. They fought racial integration tooth and nail, but now anyone advocating what they fought for would be seen as an outcast.
Women have advanced much, and now — with gay marriage spreading slowly, state by state — one can see an eventual end on the horizon for that particular prejudice. One can see the conservatives trying to demonize hispanics, but that too seems doomed to failure.
The future is clear and it is a future where all people are both created equal and can live lives of equality. It has taken over 250 years and the promise is not yet realized, but everyday it grows closer.
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