When the Liberal Young become the Conservative Old.
Chet Anekwe
What happens to men when they get old?
What makes a young liberal minded, socially conscious activist and defender of the disenfranchised, grow old and turn into a, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, social services limiting, get off my lawn, conservative?
The list is long, just in Hollywood alone
Charlton Heston: Marched with MLK
Clint Eastwood: Supported Muhammad Ali
Jon Voight: Actively participated in the civil right movement
Frank Sinatra: Hired Quincy Jones and opened many door for black artists and entertainers
All men, either ended their lives as, or still are, hardcore conservatives.
Black men too!
Bill Cosby began to expose more and more conservative views, before his incarceration. Constantly berating the younger generation of black youths. Criticizing their prevailing culture, their clothing, their grammar, their music. In fact, it was these very rants that ultimately began the series of events that changed his life. Fed up with his constant criticism , Hannibal Burress called him a rapist during his comedy set. "Google it", he told us. The rest is history.
Hall of fame, NFL legend, and one time civil right icon, Jim Brown, was the personification of black power, pride and resistance. This was a black athlete who exercised his power in a time where no athlete, black or white did, nor could. He retired from football, from a movie set in europe because he didn’t want to be told what he could and could not do. This was a man that led a summit of professional black athletes, in support Muhammed Ali, whose was stripped of his boxing title and license for refusing draft induction. The ultimate symbol of standing against an oppressive system and government.
Today’s Jim Brown? He spoke out against Colin Kaepernick’s silent protest. saying misguidedly “I'm an American. I don't desecrate my flag and my national anthem”. Even though people have tirelessly said, the protest was not against the flag, but police brutality.. The same Jim Brown who supported another black man’s right to refuse to fight for this country, had an issue with one kneeling for his. Oh yeah, Mr Brown is a Donald Trump supporter.
Even personally, I have witnessed this. I have vietnam vet uncle, who taught me so much about being proud to be black. Standing up for, and next to, our brothers and sisters in the struggle. He was there when Malcolm X was killed. He used to take all my GI Joes action figures, and color their faces with magic marker to make them black. And was the first person my mother called, for support and advice, whenever I experienced a racial issue at school.
Today, he holds some extremely conservative views. And, yes you guess it. He is also a Trump supporter...
How did that happen? Where did that come from?’
I guess when a young man is trying make his way in the world, he fights against his current society, using counter culture as the scythe to carve his path. But once at his desired destination, he becomes the culture. He becomes the societal norms, the status quo. And now, change, is exactly what he doesn’t want..
Winston Churchill once said:
“If You Are Not a Liberal When You Are Young, You Have No Heart, and If You Are Not a Conservative When Old, You Have No Brain”
I am proud to have no brain…
- Chet Bashari Anekwe -