spoon full of sugar said:
In my original post I said that there were major problems in the fifties, but, people weren't afraid to go outside at night.
Well I am a child of the 50's. I was born in 1950 in Texas. You are correct in that we weren't afraid to go outside at night. I spent many summer evenings playing "kick the can." We stayed out after dark playing games and rode bikes or roller skated during the days. No one locked their doors and everyone left their car keys in the cars. Ahh, the happy carefree days of the 1950's.
Unfortunately, I was molested by the kindly grandfather that lived next door. He lived with his daughter and her husband who were best friends of my parents. They sat on the front porch many days with my parents drinking iced tea while the kids played happily in the yard...A picturesque scene right out of "Leave it to Beaver." Unfortunately, no one knew of the monster who lived next door. Even after the truth came out, no one went to the police. It was just too humiliating back then. It was all just a dirty little secret that was hidden away. My father confronted this grandfather and he just moved to another town to live with another daughter---probably to continue molesting children in the new town.
Things were so beautiful in my hometown. The Blacks lived in one part of town and were not allowed to mingle or even go to schools with the whites. We had seperate restrooms and drinking fountains clearly labelled "Whites only" and "Colored." There was no eating in the restaurants together with African Americans and whites. "Negroes" ate in a back kitchen at the restaurant. They were welcome to go to the only movie theater in town but must sit in the balcony away from the whites.
Rape was never publicized. The family kept it a secret because it was too shameful and, of course, date rape was never heard of. Everyone knew if you were raped on a date that you "led the boy on."
We also had no mentally challenged children. Most Down Syndrome children or blind or deaf children were sent to live in state homes. Families sent away almost all disabled children except for the ones who were "crippled" by polio. That was OK, because they weren't born with a disability. One year, I had a blind girl in my class in 2nd grade. Her parents insited that she be educated in the public schools. She lasted a couple of months before the school board determined that she couldn't fit in there. She, too, was sent off to a state school.
There were still kidnappings, murders, wifebeaters, child beaters, molesters, and even gays but it was mostly all kept under wraps or whispered about. We knew how to keep secrets back then.