I did read about this in Mr. Rogers's biography, but I do not think that he did any forcing. He had a quiet, but firm conversation with Clemmons about what could and most likely would happen to them and their families if Clemmons came out at the time. This behavior would most definitely not be acceptable at the time, as we are in a modern world where all types of self-expression, living, and beliefs are considered acceptable. Very little outside the realm of conformity and diversity was considered acceptable back then. People were threatened, harmed, or killed for breaking from conformity in this time period and Mr. Rogers was very much a true friend in suggesting a course of action that would protect them all from harm. Clemmons valued this true friendship enough to listen and take his friend's advice.
A true friend not only protects, but also listens and considers the position of the other when advice is given. Mr. Rogers valued Clemmons enough to give the advice and Clemmons valued Mr. Rogers enough to take the advice. This would definitely be seen as bigoted today and those who don't have any sort of concept about what life was like back then will think it is bigoted. However, the era in which Mr. Rogers existed was very much about conformity and bigorty was considered perfectly acceptable.
Considering the state of the world at the time, I believe Mr. Rogers was doing what he could to protect his friend from danger. It was hard enough for black people in that time period, but being outed as a homosexual would have possibly resulted in Clemmons being openly bullied or killed. Mr. Rogers did not want harm to come to his friend, so he recommended that his friend get married to a woman to protect himself and prolong his life. It was absolutely nothing in those days for people to hurt or kill black or gay people and have a laugh about it later at the bar or social group. Mr. Rogers loved his friend and showed it by giving him a way to protect himself.
The comments that Mr. Rogers made about how Clemmons being an outed gay would ruin him were made because any who were known to be friends with black people or openly gay people at the time were subject to the same scrutiny and problems. If y'all know anything about history, a clear example of this was when Bobby DeLaughter took up the cause of getting Byron De La Beckwith declared guilty for murdering Medgar Evers. DeLaughter associated with Myrlie Evers and many other black individuals and was threatened, harassed, and even suffered a divorce because his racist wife couldn't tolerate it. Mr. Rogers had a wife and two sons to think of and wanted to be friends with this wonderful individual, but he didn't want all of them to fall into harm's way.
Even in the 1990's, being gay wasn't considered socially acceptable because David Yost, the guy who played the Billy Cranston, the Blue Power Ranger in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, spoke about how he was mistreated by castmates and production simply for being out of the closet. There were even times throughout history where it was unacceptable to be Jewish, German, Asian, and anything that was considered unique. When 9/11 happened, the bigotry suddenly turned on the Muslims in a hardcore way and people suffered terrible violence simply for being Muslim. South Americans and Mexicans were and are being subject to family separation and detention camps very much like people were in the Holocaust and in the time of the Japanese internment camps. People with disabilities used to be locked away and tortured simply because they didn't function like everyone else and nobody wanted to have the time or patience to teach them. Some of them are still locked away and it's really quite sad. Now that the coronavirus has arrived, the Asians are under fire yet again because everyone thinks they are the proprietors of this virus and they are not.
The virus just happened like all other illnesses do and this should not be an excuse for the racist part of everyone to make an appearance! Don't say that you don't have a racist or bigoted part inside of you because I'm sure everyone does, but some are better at locking that part away than others are.
What is most disturbing to me is that racist and bigoted behavior is still considered socially acceptable even though it's 2020. We are all people and that is why we should be considered equals. Our differences make us unique and we should be celebrating those differences and using them to improve the world in which we live, not seeking to destroy each other for the sake of conformity.
"What is most disturbing to me is that racist and bigoted behavior is still considered socially acceptable even though it's 2020."
who is accepting of it? i'm pretty sure anyone saying that "asians are the ones who caused coronavirus" are under fire, and is absolutely NOT socially acceptable to say!
Bigotry STILL is not widely socially acceptable no matter who it's toward, so who, pray tell is being oppressed, and people are just okay with it?
I am open to being wrong so i'm genuinely asking.
Asian people are being targeted because of the coronavirus. Mexicans and South Americans are being separated from their families and popped into internment camps. The list is very long...
who is accepting of it? i'm pretty sure anyone saying that "asians are the ones who caused coronavirus" are under fire, and is absolutely NOT socially acceptable to say!
Bigotry STILL is not widely socially acceptable no matter who it's toward, so who, pray tell is being oppressed, and people are just okay with it?
I am open to being wrong so i'm genuinely asking.