politics

The thing about discrimination is it isn’t a passive act. You don’t write a law that only applies to white people without explicitly excluding others.

Good thing he didn't do that then. Even in the darkest times of our country, this wasn't how it worked. The laws themselves applied to everybody. The application and enforcement of those laws were discriminatory. And yes, this includes his own discrimination as well. I fully acknowledge that he did some things that would be unacceptable at the very least today. But he did those things during a time when they were considered progressive by then-modern society.

Hitler shook Owen’s hand… HITLER for fucks sake. That guy that utterly hated jews and deplored non-aryans. FDR could have at least invited him in for a coffee.

Dude, seriously. There's never a reason to bring up Hitler. Doesn't matter what side of a discussion you're on.

Everything will be with the benefit of hindsight but the idea that turning away hundreds of thousands of Jews while you KNEW (had multiple intelligence reports and American news reporting the fact that jews were being put into concentration camps and murdered being reported for over 2 years by 1941.). He blocked jewish refugees from immigrating actively.

We also know that North Korea keeps hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in concentration camps too. China is also known to not exactly be accomodating to ethnic minorities. Russia is currently trying to eradicate Ukraine.

There are probably hundreds of examples of other countries committing atrocities around the world. We still have diplomatic relations with them (Well, not North Korea, but you get the idea.). We still have economic relations with them. Some are even our military allies. What is happening in these countries is wrong. It was as wrong then as it is now. But this is the geopolitical reality of the world we live in; the fact that these countries may be committing atrocities within their borders has never shaped our foreign or immigration policies.

Segregation in the military was so insidious black servicemembers were pushed aside for NAZI POWs …

Again, this was the 1930s. Segregation was considered progressive back then, and was pretty much everywhere, so it shouldn't be a surprise we see it there too. But like I said, progress is incremental and takes time. And while we look back on segregation negatively today, it's still at least ahead of when they were only considered 3/5th of a person.

Assuming climate change doesn't kill us all first, I'm sure that people discussing this subject 100 years from now will consider some of the policies we espouse today as barbaric as well.

Nazi POWs got to ride in first class in the front of the train. Nazis were getting treated better than Black veterans who had put their lives on the line. So that kind of pissed my dad off.

First, I'd be willing to bet that FDR didn't make that decision himself. Second, this is what I'm talking about: The application of the law is where the problem is, not the law itself. While this is only my own guess, I'd be willing to bet that the official instructions were that the veterans and POWs all took the same train, and whoever was in charge of seating or whatever decided that "the n*****s can sit in the back just like they're used to doing at home."

This sort of thing was not the output of a great man by todays standards, nor of someone who honors those who served and put their lives on the line. His discriminating behavior was continuous and not representative of what I would call a great man. If he had had a deathbed lament of his behavior maybe I’d reconsider, but he died knowing he was a great man, and that includes that behavior.

But again, you are judging a man who lived in the 1930s by 2023 standards. Many of the decisions that would be considered egregious examples of racism by today's standards were either considered minor transgressions at worst or the actually accepted practice of the time, even by some progressive (at the time) standards.