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it was forty years ago today
Last night we were watching this American Experience program on PBS about The Summer of Love.
It was fun to watch for the most part, but also reminded me of how it was perfectly OK for people to say the most ignorant, bigoted things about whole groups of "others." And of how over the line the cops could go too.
Which of course still happens - the world is still full of bigots of all ages and colors and variations, and the cops can still go way over the line for no apparent reason when they just don't happen to like the looks of someone.
But for some reason I had pushed that part of the 60's and 70's into the back of my brain - the harrassment aspects of it sometimes, even in SF, whether it was hippies or gays or whatever, it did go on.
That's why people form ghettos based on this or that criteria - race, sexual orientation, hippyness back then, whatever - to offset the harrassment from the majority. And of course because they were/are not allowed to live with the majority even if they wanted to, which mostly they don't.
Some things never change.
Anyway it was an interesting program and I especially liked the little rant by Peter Coyote at the end, even though they bleeped him every time he used the word "bullshit" - which he used in every sentence. I mean please, let the man say BULLSHIT on PBS. :)
It was fun to watch for the most part, but also reminded me of how it was perfectly OK for people to say the most ignorant, bigoted things about whole groups of "others." And of how over the line the cops could go too.
Which of course still happens - the world is still full of bigots of all ages and colors and variations, and the cops can still go way over the line for no apparent reason when they just don't happen to like the looks of someone.
But for some reason I had pushed that part of the 60's and 70's into the back of my brain - the harrassment aspects of it sometimes, even in SF, whether it was hippies or gays or whatever, it did go on.
That's why people form ghettos based on this or that criteria - race, sexual orientation, hippyness back then, whatever - to offset the harrassment from the majority. And of course because they were/are not allowed to live with the majority even if they wanted to, which mostly they don't.
Some things never change.
Anyway it was an interesting program and I especially liked the little rant by Peter Coyote at the end, even though they bleeped him every time he used the word "bullshit" - which he used in every sentence. I mean please, let the man say BULLSHIT on PBS. :)