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In the 197’s, the TV show “All In the Family” was a national hit. It told the story of a working-class, lovable bigot named Archie Bunker, played by actor Carroll O’Connor. Bunker’s view on America, politics, gays, Hispanics, Blacks, Jews and life were laughable 44 years ago. But today it’s close to the same rhetoric spewed by Donald Trump. The show aired for eight years in its original run and spawned the spin-off, “Archie Bunker’s Place,” for another four years. The show’s most famous spin-off was “The Jefferson’s,” which became another top rated show among White and Black America. The writers of the show used biting satire to poke fun at political conservatives and White supremacists in a changing nation in the wake the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s.
The current debate over gun control and terrorists is not a new one. Forty years ago it was also news as terrorist attacks and plane hijackings were occurring around the world. Many of these events were perpetrated by members of the Palestine Liberation Organization, who would today be branded as Muslim terrorists in the same league as ISIS. The fear of airplane hijackings was at its height as armed federal Marshals were deployed on flights across the county.Trump’s latest statement about gun control seems to be similar to Archie Bunker’s. After the San Bernardino mass shooting Trump stated:
“I feel very strongly that people in this country — and actually the world — need protection.
“If you look at Paris, they didn’t have guns, and they were slaughtered. If you look at what happened in California, they didn’t have guns, and they were slaughtered.
“I think it would’ve been a lot better if they had guns in that room, somebody could protect, they could’ve protected themselves if they had guns.”
Sentiments echoed by Archie Bunker in the clip above.
