"Daughters of the New American Revolution"

Daughters of the New American Revolution

It was some 70 years ago that Franklin Roosevelt opened remarks to a convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution by saying, “Fellow immigrants....” FDR was addressing some of the narrow-mindedness that characterized the xenophobia of the times.

The DAR is an association of women descended from supporters of the 1775-1783 war for independence. Before I bring this story up to date, let me tell you that the Revolution only succeeded because we had support from the French at critical points, and other furriners as well.

Many of the American Indians supported the British, which wasn’t surprising considering some of the treatment they had suffered at the hands of the colonists.

For that matter, only 20% of the colonists actually supported the revolution.

The other day I spoke before the local DAR, and discovered it wasn’t the audience I had expected. These women were a mix of political affiliations and opinions.

It was a reminder to me for the upteenth time not to categorize people by a past reputation. Over several decades as a journalist, I’ve seen myriad people I might have expected to be hayseed conservatives who sounded a lot more thoughtful than did high-fallutin’ academics.

I reminded the audience that Thomas Jefferson had said we would need a revolution every 20 years, and I called for them to re-revolutionize. They seemed to like that idea. Indeed most Americans – 80% according to the polls – think our country is going in the wrong direction. They are ready to support leaders who will get us back on track.

The DAR is not the group they were 70 years ago. Nor are the American people. We’re all looking for quality leaders who aren’t stuck in the past.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.