Blue Suits

It’s funny how some things your parents said when you were a child stay with you almost six decades later.

I grew up in the 60’s. It was an era of protests, riots, and marches to give equal rights to blacks and women. There were many nights when my father, who was a lifelong Republican, and I would have long talks at the dinner table about the news of the day.

I was a young kid trying to make sense of all that was going on. I couldn’t understand why some people thought a person was less of a human because of their skin color or why the only jobs a woman could have were teachers, nurses, waitresses, or housewives.

During these conversations in the era of Martin Luther King and Gloria Steinem, my dad would sometimes say that he “Didn’t want to live in a world of blue suits.” Which was som