There’s been some talk recently of putting all Muslims on some sort of watch list/database. This has been attributed to The Donald but it isn’t really that black and white. He didn’t suggest it first, a reporter did and he didn’t disagree. Either way, he’s gotten the credit, so to speak, and while not surprising, but still disheartening, he’s still going strong in the polls.

My grandmother had a list too. Her list of prejudices was based on a simple, yet not scientifically proven method – how people act in the laundromat. She had a few exceptions but generally she saw everyone through her Downey-colored glasses. I can remember being out to dinner with her and my sister as she was explaining how the Orientals are very clean in the laundromat. Kathleen explained to her that we try to use the term Asians versus Orientals. Baa-Baa took this in and continued on “The Orientals fold their laundry…” If you represented your ethnic group well whiling folding clothes, then obviously, the whole group was acceptable.

She had two exceptions to her list. She lived across the street from a Greek church and found the Greeks to be good church-going folks. Since most of Astoria, where she lived, had Greek-run businesses and people, it’s a good thing she was keen on them. Reversely, having been pretty beat up one time during a mugging, she did not hold others of her mugger’s nationality in high regard.

While my dad was in the Navy during WWII, he spent time doing intelligence. This consisted of taking in tips from people and categorizing them into threat levels. He said he was reviewing a tip and realized it was about one of his neighbors from Great Neck. This German man was into astrology and was always out looking through his telescope. Yet, with the start of the war, his neighbors now feared he was getting secret messages from the Nazis via his telescope. That tip, my dad recalled, was put in the non-creditable file.

To me, the list idea is scary. Granted, we are all probably on some list. When the government was looking at our phone records or maybe when we attended some rally, we’ve probably landed on someone’s radar.  Is that right? I don’t know. But, at what point do we say no, no to categorizing everyone in some religious, political or ethnic group as something to fear because of the acts of a few?

Some people believe that The Donald brings some good ideas to the table. I could probably cobble a few decent ideas together too, but that doesn’t qualify me for President. I’m nervous about his continual attempt to pit us against one another to make a point. It’s still early on and many things will change between now and November and in the meantime, let’s focus on the few, not the many, and support policies that reflect our true values as Americans not ones that are reflective of our fears.