This is my annual Veterans Day post. (Just part of it this year)
In 1967, after the Summer of Love was over, Viet Nam protests were barely beginning, I found myself in unusual circumstances in an unusual time, and so I joined the USWAC.
The Army was segregated in those days — not by race, but by sex. All WAC training was held at Ft. McClellan, AL and so the Army flew me out to begin my training. It was in Alabama, in 1967 that I first observed racial segregation. I saw “whites-only” bathrooms and water faucets. They were NOT just a “left-over” relic from an earlier and sad time. They were a current condition that blacks and whites found themselves in. They were a commentary on how far we still had to come. Racial segregation, at least not overt discrimination, was minimal in California. It was still rampant in Alabama when I was there.
This past Tuesday, we saw a decisive victory for diversity. I, and all my indigent criminal defense attorney friends, and all my otherwise liberal friends, were over the moon with hope for the first time in a year. I could not be more proud of us, and am proud to call myself a veteran of this diverse and inclusive country that allows us to embrace our differences. Thank you to all who showed up and voted their conscience. It worked. We are taking back America.
Thank you for all the forms your service has taken, Kate — to our country and to our beautiful south coast.
And 30 years to California’s indigent criminal justice system. My hardest service thus far.
Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.
Thank you for your service and dedication to diversity!
You are quite welcome.
You and your fellow enlightened voters have given me hope for the future.
Thank you for sharing. In spite of the turbulent thinking of the 60s you volunteered to serve. Military service is not as highly esteemed these days, yet the sacrifice is as great or greater. Thank you for serving our country then and now.
a former res (above Garrapata beach), I too was in Alabama in ’67 (librarian at Ft. Rucker), am a J.D. and, most important, a foot-stompin’ lib. Yeah for our team!
My grandparents lived in Alabama. I remember visiting from California as a teenager and being appalled at the segregation.
Yes, quite a difference between CA and Alabama. Was a shock to my sensibilities.