And afterwards the head of the group got to the microphone and said, I’m surprised that I agree with almost everything you said, but I’m worried that you’re a big government guy.
When [my dad] was at the University of Michigan, my mom was a social-worker. As he rose, he voted for [Adlai] Stevenson initially. Then he voted for [Dwight] Eisenhower. Then he kept voting Republican until he voted for Barack Obama.
They were pretty interesting about being interesting able to look at their children and think oh my children know things and they gave us a lot of sense of our own agency, and that may be a kind of a ruling class trait.
There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were – “a real threat,” you know? He thought so and we thought so and we were buddies in that regard.
That’s what [Abraham] Lincoln said. “The white man will always be above the black man. I don’t want them to run for office, or have political rights, or vote. I want them to go back to Africa.”
One of the things that’s complicated about writing anything is that it’s an act of narcissism, and then of course once it sails out into the world, you have to let go of it.
So we were ecstatic and we swirled around spontaneously, the campus in Ann Harbor and about 4,000 of us landed on the steps of the president of the University of Michigan’s home.
[John] McCain seemed to be winking to the Right, and [Barack] Obama seemed to be winking to the Left. Neither one of them – if McCain had been elected we’d still be where we are on gay rights.
This 1965. We went to trial on our city. We were obviously borrowing tactics and strategy from the Black freedom movement, and we were echoing their approach to things.
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-spock-driven.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/grey-certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-sp.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/blue-certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-sp.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/red-certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-sp.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/brown-certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-sp.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - Certainly my parents were Dr. [Benjamin] Spock-driven parents. So they were tolerant.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/white-certainly-my-parents-were-dr-benjamin-sp.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - [The whole first year at university] was a great time for me and great time of awakening.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-tim.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - When [my dad] was at the University of Michigan, my mom was a social-worker. As he rose, he voted for [Adlai] Stevenson initially. Then he voted for [Dwight] Eisenhower. Then he kept voting Republican until he voted for Barack Obama.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/when-my-dad-was-at-the-university-of-michigan-my-m.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - That’s what [Abraham] Lincoln said. “The white man will always be above the black man. I don’t want them to run for office, or have political rights, or vote. I want them to go back to Africa.”](https://minimalistquotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/thats-what-abraham-lincoln-said-the-white-man-will-683x1024.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - There was a sense of palpable relief that George [W.] Bush was leaving and that the Republicans had slipped back and that was a wonderful feeling.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/there-was-a-sense-of-palpable-relief-that-george-w.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - [John] McCain seemed to be winking to the Right, and [Barack] Obama seemed to be winking to the Left. Neither one of them – if McCain had been elected we’d still be where we are on gay rights.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/john-mccain-seemed-to-be-winking-to-the-right-and-.jpg)
![Bill Ayers Quote - I’m not disappointed in [Barack] Obama. He said who he is; he’s doing what he said he would do.](https://minimalistquotes.com/images/im-not-disappointed-in-barack-obama-he-said-who-he.jpg)
