Why I am a Liberal, abbreviated version, part one

I grew up in a conservative home, in a conservative geographical area and with my parents (actually just my mom) attended a church that was way right of conservative. My first memories, which take place in the very early 80's, are of a time when conservatism, religion and morality were all wrapped up in Reagan. This was the time of the backlash against the social and societal reforms of the 60's and 70's. I believe everyone felt insecure and as if their life was without moorings, so turned to the security: the Bible and God, particularly the Hebrew scriptures (old testament) fire and brimstone/hell and damnation God.
My parents and nearly everyone I knew in childhood was a Republican, even though the 80's were a time of inflation and working class people suffered from trickle down economics and the slow closing of programs and phasing out of funding that typified that era. I may also add that there was a pervasive anti-feminism sentiment present in the area and that church.
But somehow I was a feminist! Was it from TV or movies? I don't know, but I remember Geraldine Ferraro on the billboard and "ERA" signs in peoples yards which actually a type of real estate agent, but I thought it stood for Equal Rights Amendment. I remember telling my father he was a male chauvinist pig, although I had no inkling what it really meant. We girls can do anything, right Barbie?
Roots and all it's sequels aired when I was a child, and then Queen when I was a teenager. I tried to befriend african-american girls (except they were "black"then) The friendships didn't work out to well, perhaps because they would have been contrived, or maybe because Our Town was segregated, as far as neighborhoods and churches go. It probably still is. When my mother moved to Our Town with her family in 1969, it still had "whites only" and "colored" signs up in businesses.
So how did I end up a liberal who votes democrat but is much more to the left? Was I a micro victim of the liberal media brainwashing me into discarding my families' values? I don't think so. I think for most people, for me anyway, politics and beliefs are internal and inborn. I tried to follow the groove, stay in the lines and parrot back what I was told, but I couldn't do it. Not about religion, not about feminism, not about politics.
I am still a product of the south. I struggle with lingering prejudices, a desire to label and lingering evangelical fearfulness. And I struggle with how to raise my children. I don't want them pointing at those from other cultures openly ( or in secret) as I see people doing and making comments about dress or hair or propensity for stealing. But I want them to respect and acknowledge differences as well. America is a melting pot, after all. Anyone else have tacos, pasta, barbeque and chinese in a given month (or week)? No? Just me?