Not talking politics in this post. No really.

“What do you think of the protests in Wisconsin?”

Umm.. I’m sorry, Grandmom. What did you just ask me? Because it sounded like a political question. Wait, you want me to answer that? Erm.. Well. Um. Uh. I mean.

~~~

Supposedly families are the most diverse networks.*Our best friends are people like us. The people we work with chose the job based on similar values. We live in neighborhoods with the type of people we want to resemble. We worship in communities of shared beliefs.

We might know people who aren’t like us, but they’re not who we associate with. If we don’t click with people, then they can fall away from our lives. But family you’re stuck with no matter how different the paths you go down.

~~~

I didn’t come up with the most eloquent answer. I’m a little (but only a little) bit conflicted. Unions can be a big business. They can be part of the problem. But I do believe that the can offer important protection.

“Did you have to join a union when you taught?”

“No, Grandmom. My school wasn’t unionized. I think it could have helped if they had been.”

~~~

We don’t talk politics in my family. At least not that side of my extended family.

Granted, there are cousins who bring up issues sometimes. I missed the summer at the beach where the California cousin said something referring to global warming. The South Carolina cousin protested, “You don’t actually believe that do you?”

But my Grandmother stays out of the conversations. During college, my parents confirmed that she votes the other side of the ticket than I do. I suspected, but didn’t know. It's just not something we discuss.

~~~

“Because you know, when your Aunt was teaching in New York, she had to pay union dues.”

Did she now? How about that.

~~~

I struggle with the deep divide in American culture. I’ve lived in places where I felt way too liberal and places where I identified with the more conservative community members. I carry both of them with me, if only to the extent that I know the arguments on either side. And I hate the other-izing of the opposition. As someone who has been the the minority for over half my life, even in a privileged position, it’s not comfortable.

I firmly believe that the best way for the country, the world, to combat this ostracizing of each other is to talk to people on the other side.

I believe that I have benefited by my relationships with people who are not like me. But I’m not sure that they have been benefited by their relationship with me. I’m afraid that I camouflage too readily. That I know that you’re different from me, but if you don’t figure it out I’m not going to tell you. And if you do figure it out, or ask questions around the issue, I’ll hedge.

~~~

“It’s been good talking to you, Grandmom. I love you.”

“Love you too, sweetie.”




*Don’t ask for my citations, because the best I’ve got is a lecture last year.