Shoulders of Giants

by

by publius

Via the Moderate Voice, I saw Ben Smith passing along the following early voting story:

For me the most moving moment came when the [black] family in front of me, comprising probably 4 generations of voters (including an 18 year old girl voting for her first time and a 90-something hunched-over grandmother), got their turn to vote. When the old woman left the voting booth she made it about halfway to the door before collapsing in a nearby chair, where she began weeping uncontrollably. When we rushed over to help we realized that she wasn’t in trouble at all but she had not truly believed, until she left the booth, that she would ever live long enough to cast a vote for an African-American for president.

21 thoughts on “Shoulders of Giants”

  1. The most famous use of the phrase was, of course, to quote wikipedia:

    Isaac Newton famously remarked in a letter to his rival Robert Hooke dated February 5, 1676 that:

    “What Descartes did was a good step. You have added much several ways, and especially in taking the colours of thin plates into philosophical consideration. If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

    This has recently been interpreted by a few writers as a sarcastic remark directed against Hooke. This is speculative; Hooke and Newton had exchanged many letters in tones of mutual regard, and Hooke was not of particularly short stature, although he was of slight build and had been afflicted from his youth with a severe stoop. However, at some point, when Robert Hooke criticized some of Newton’s ideas regarding optics, Newton was so offended that he withdrew from public debate. The two men remained enemies until Hooke’s death.

  2. Another amazing story that Ben Smith recently posted was titled: “The history argument“.


    After I voted I walked out to the street to find my mother’s friends surrouding our new friend Mike — they were laughing and having a great time. I joined them and soon learned that Mike had changed his mind in the polling booth and ended up voting for Obama. When I asked him why he changed his mind at the last minute, he explained that while he was waiting for his jacket he got into a conversation with one of the ladies who had explained how the Jewish community, and she, had worked side by side with the black community during the civil rights movements of the ’60s, and that this vote was the culmination of those personal and community efforts so many years ago. That this election for her was more than just a vote … but a chance at history.
    Mike looked at me and said, “Obama’s going to win, and I didn’t want to tell my grandchildren some day that I had an opportunity to vote for the first black president, but I missed my chance at history and voted for the other guy.”

    Also, after writing this I suspect that Kathleen Parker isn’t going to be getting any Christmas cards from the RNC this year.

  3. From Cheney, Schwimmer, and Goodman to President Obama in my lifetime.
    Those young men will be on my mind as I early vote today. I was a little girl, I didn’t know about them then. But I teach my students about them now.

  4. TLTABQ:
    That story reminds me of something Von wrote in the comments section here a week or so ago. A sentiment for which he was unfairly criticized by some IIRC.

  5. Jaye —
    Actually, their names were James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman.
    I appreciate that your heart is in the right place, but if you are a teacher, you should make sure your facts are correct, as your students undoubtedly assume that you are giving them true and accurate history.
    More info here:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_worker_murders
    Though I am not yet 90 (a mere 57), I am old enough to remember the murder of these 3 men, and the ensuing aquittals at trial of most of those charged with the crime. I, too, am overcome by the thought that a black man may become President of the United States in my lifetime.
    And I know exactly (well, close, anyway) what Michelle meant when she said this is the first time she has been truly proud of her country.

  6. Quibble:
    Newton did not quite withdraw from public debate, nor were he and Hooke quite enemies. Hooke and Newton probably weren’t best of friends, but they did engage in public debate whose at least partial history is well documented. That last is from 1675; the date the History was published is given as 1757.

  8. David
    I’m another 57 year old, grew up in Chicago. My kids are 20 and 27, I tried to tell them what it’s like for me to be able to vote for Obama when I remember that when I was a kid a black couldn’t even walk through my neighborhood after dark.
    There are so many stooges out there who don’t want to admit that racism still exists. This election though will show that we finally are overcoming it.

  9. The oldest active member of our county Dem committee is an African-American woman who was 93 this January. Like a lot of other black voters, she started out a Hillary Clinton supporter because she just didn’t believe that whites would vote for Obama (and she had a reservoir of affection for both Clintons plus enthusiasm for the idea of a woman becoming president).
    Iowa and Super Tuesday convinced her Obama had a real chance to win, and Bill Clinton’s remarks after South Carolina burned that bridge. But, strong Obama supporter though she’s been all summer and fall, she’s still pinching herself. At our committee meeting on Wednesday, she said, “It’s really happening, isn’t it? I just can’t believe it.”
    I’d been encouraging early voting (in-person absentee), but she’s having none of it. She’s always voted on election day. For decades she was an officer of election (the people who work at the polling places), and is known and respected by the current precinct officials. She’s going to vote without breaking down, but I expect that she’ll be shedding a few tears of joy when Obama speaks in Grant Park.
    She was in her fifties when the local party finally desegregated itself enough to invite her in. Her children went through segregated elementary and high schools here.
    This isn’t going to solve everything or end racism, but it’s a real psychological step forward.

  12. I routinely weep after voting, too, but it’s because of the realization that I’m probably never going to get the chance to vote for a President I even minimally respect, let alone would actually WANT in that office.

  13. I’m probably never going to get the chance to vote for a President I even minimally respect, let alone would actually WANT in that office.
    Any current examples of such a person?

  15. It’s not clear to me who the giants publius refers to in the title are, but the woman described in the linked post may well be one of them.
    We forget that the civil rights revolution was really fought by many many thousands of African-Americans who dared to stand up in the face of genuine threats to their livelihood, their physical well-being, even their lives, and demand their rights. These people, mostly anonymous, are giants of American history.

  17. “That story reminds me of something Von wrote in the comments section here a week or so ago. A sentiment for which he was unfairly criticized by some IIRC.”
    Eric, for those of us who missed it, this isn’t very informative. Link?
    “I’m going to be so damn proud of this country.”
    I’m not counting chickens until I see the results in, and agreed upon by everyone for a day or so. I still remember when Al Gore won Florida, according to the tv networks.

  20. Not only was national History, but our own family History has been written this week. My 101 year old, Died In the Wool, GOP, Mom voted by mail. She has worked for the GOP very hard over the years, but this time she voted for Obama…

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