“Archie Bunker is back. This February, MeTV started airing reruns of the 1970’s SitCom, “All In The Family.” But wait. Wasn’t he already back in the person of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis? Wikipedia describes Archie Bunker as “an outspoken, narrow-minded man, seemingly prejudiced against everyone who is not like him or his idea of how people should be.” That sounds a lot like Governeor DeSantis. But Wikipedia goes on to describe Archie as “a lovable bigot, a man who is simply struggling to adapt to the constanbtly chganging world, rather than someone motivated by hateful racism or prejudice.” And that may be where the comparison ends. I can laugh at Archie Bunker. He does little harm. His dominion fictional and limited to his row house in Queens, NY. Even there he is often proven wrong by the wife he calls “dingbat,” the son-in-law he refers to as “meathead,” and an assortment of neighbors and guests who represent those groups that Archie is prejudiced against. I can’t laugh at DeSantis who is just as outspoken, narrow-minded, and seemingly prejudiced toward everyone who is not like him or his idea of how people should be. DeSantis’s dominion is much larger that Archie Bunker’s and more real. DeSantis may even want to be Presiden of the United States. Whether he is motivated by hateful racism and prejudice or not, he is certainly playing into the hands of those who are anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti-gay, anti-transgender, anti-education and anti-free-speech. So whenever I hear the theme song for “All In The Family” I will think of Ron DeSantis and pray that my fellow American recognize how similar he is to a fictional bigot named Archie Bunker and understand that this is no laughing matter.
Terry Mobley
Editor, Gettysburg Times
