By: Charise Patterson
I was having a conversation with my grandmother and her best friend, Rose, a few weeks ago. Rose described our generation as 'entirely too apathetic'. This statement sprung into a somewhat heated conversation in which I was obviously defending our generation whom often gets a lot of slack from elders for not caring enough and not doing enough. Maybe we haven't had the equivalent of the Million Man March nor have we participated in as many sit-ins and rallies, but I still believe we do our part.
Each argument I spat out, Rose shot down. I began to think this whole 'apathy' concept may not apply to all but it does seem to fit the majority. When concerning the AUC, I can undoubtedly say there were more people at the homecoming concert than nearly all of the Jena 6 rallies combined. This is a problem. From voting rights to civil rights our generation seems so much more apathetic and passive than those before us. Yes, the whole 'Vote or Die' and 'BaRack the Vote' slogans are cute. But the reality is there are about 44 million eligible young voters meaning between ages 18-29. Only 20 million voted in the 2004 election, that is half. What's wrong with the other half? (according to http://www.rockthevote.com/about/about-young-voters/who-are-young-voters/) When considering all of this information, I can't help but fold into the argument that our generation is apathetic and cares less about important issues, especially when compared to generations before us.
After having this conversation with Rose, the question 'why' came to mind. Why doesn't our generation care, and if we do, why don't we show it. I believe it is because so many things are handed to us. Sad as it is, most of us are spoiled in one way or another. I may have a had a nice minimum wage part-time job in high school, but anything I needed and most of what I wanted came from one source: parents. I can say the same for most of my friends. I never had to fight to eat the same restaurants as my white counterparts, I simply drive to the nearest McDonald's in the car that my parents bought for me. I complain when I have to walk more than a few blocks while my parents walked 20 block a day to school in Buffalo, New York.
Though our generation may be so called 'apathetic' and the shoe does fit, our parents and grandparents definitely deserve much of the blame. Hard work and dedication are values that many elders say we lack, but they fail to realize that these are values that must be learned through actual experiences. They don't just magically sink in from the constant repetition of stories from the old days.
Nevertheless, there are many of us who do care about making a change in the world and do take action when seen fit. But the harsh reality is, the majority of our generation is very apathetic compared to those before us and ironically those before us are the ones to blame.
15 comments:
I do see some valid points Charise has made, but I do not beleive that today's entire generation is apathetic. Apathy can be defined as " a lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting." Based on that definition, I would not describe today's youth as apathetic as much as I would incognizant.
If one is not aware of the events affecting himself/herself and his/her community, how can he/she be expected to care about them? I can personally attest to many of my doormates last year [Manley Hall = )] being completely unaware of the Jena Six situation until she was either invited to join the numerous facebook groups or until she heard about it from her Spelman sisters or Morehouse brothers. If memory serves me correct the events leading up to the trial of the "Jena six" (from asking permission to sit under the "white tree", to the hanging of the nooses, until the fight) occured from September 2006 through December 2006. Although the main trial was not held until the next year it certainly took time to gather the attention of the African-American community. Also, I feel as though you can not compare the efforts of three small schools to the entire generation to label the youth as apathetic. There might have been more people at the homecoming concert than in many of the Jena 6 rallies, but what about the students who bought t-shirts and wore black on the designated days who were unable to march because of class or could not make the actual trip to Jena? Even the smallest efforts to help spread the message of injustice by wearing specific colored clothing or inviting a friend to a Jena Six facebook groups shoud not be overlooked.
It is incredibly easy to sit back and make generalizations about a group of people, but what good is judging someone if you aren't coming up with a solution to rectify the problem you were judging in the first place? I completely agree with Charise's voting argument and the statistics used. However,instead of labeling the 50% or so of voters ages 18-29 as apathetic, why don't we try to evoke some feelings about politics by educating them on importance of voting? *Once again this could also fall under the category of not being informed* I know many organizations on campus including the Young Democrats of Spelman, Spelman Students for Barack Obama, and The Spelman Chapter of the NAACP (an organization I'm extremely active in) have hosted many rallies, voter education forums, voter registration drives and debate watch parties in which numerous students attended to gain knowledge about voting as well as getting registered.
On the other hand, I do agree with Charise on the point that being sheltered and spoiled play a part in the "apathy" displayed in a select minority of the youth. Growing up, neither I nor any of my peers in Poughkeepsie, NY were spoiled. On the contrary, the kids in my neighborhood walked 25 minutes to and from school up until a few of us were lucky enough to borrow our parents cars to drive to high school. (At 17 and a half a car is still no where in my future). I did not recieve a cell phone until I met my mother's standards (graduating in the top ten of my middle school class), and even until today one of my best friends still uses a pre-paid Nokia Tracfone. Don't get me wrong, our parents did the absolute best they could, while teaching us that anything we wanted we had to work for. That is a lesson that I still apply to my life. For example, if it were not for a half-tuition scholarship and a general college job, there would be no way for me to attend the prestigous Spelman College. I mention that to say that although a select few of our generation are "spoiled", many students are grinding on their own. Am I saying that those who have been dealt a better hand or did not have to "struggle" ,as Mrs. Green would say, are apathetic? No, I am merely introducing these persons to show how I agree with Charise: By providing and cushioning children with desirables without them having to work for it does take away from the "values that must be learned through actual experiences" such as being self-sufficient. However the lack of hard work and independence should not necessarily be considered apathy, but just concepts that particular people have not been introduced to.
I do not believe that the majority of our generation is apathetic. However I would say that a good portion of the youth are very incognizant of how both basic life skills and current events affect their lives. I agree that the generations before us can be held slightly responsible for raising children without letting them experience, learn, and develop interest and concern for this world, But once a child reaches a certain age he/she is responsible for filling that void. This is not an apathetic generation, just simply unknowing.
Response by: R. Tuzo
While I did find Charise comments interesting, and can completely relate to the conversation she had with her grandmother and her grandmother’s best friend, I do not believe this is we are an apathetic generation. Instead, I believe we are a generation MISEDUCATED from birth. An important thing to keep in mind while reading her article is that she was conversing with people from 2 generations before ours. 2 people from a generation rather different from ours, raised during much different times from ours, and a generation that struggles to find ways in which they can relate to much of the things our generations consist of technologically, politically or ideologically. I can agree that our generations don’t care about the same things, but to say that this generation doesn’t care at all is rather farfetched.
True say, we haven’t had the equivalent of the Million Man March or participated in as many sit-ins, mainly because we are of the generations that reap the benefits of what past generations fought for. The problems they faced, and the problems we face are very different types of problems. Should our generation march in honor of parents that work 2-3 jobs to keep single parent homes above poverty? Should we march for children orphaned, abused or neglected by their doped out parents? Should we march for ignorant people that are raised to know nothing but Dolce & Gabbana or Botox while others die daily from starvation? Should we march because the education systems found in Black communities don’t teach us things we need to know or supply us with tools we need to succeed? Should we march because Spelman cost $30,000+ and most struggle to afford it? The marching would never end… Am I saying don’t march? No! But do we deserve to be ridiculed because we haven’t marched? No! Especially since our history books rob us of any in-depth knowledge about such subjects!
We are the generation Miseducated, preceded by generations either miseducated like us, or uneducated altogether and we have somehow earned labels like generation “X” or the apathetic generation when it’s not our fault. It’s one thing to be allowed no access at all to equal education than allowed access to a system that you don’t know is miseducating you. Society has changed, societal constructs have changed, morals have been changed and/or been lost and the general focus of society today is a different one from “back in the day”. Images of racial segregation, the holocaust or world wars have been replaced by images of life when you’re rich and/or famous and Soulja Boy’s and Weezy’s have replaced Marvin Gaye’s and Al Green’s. We are simply not dealing with the same things anymore. We weren’t born this way; we learned to be this way. When society paints the picture that its more important to be rich, than equal, this is what happens. When we have learned to be selfish, instead of selfless than this is what happens. When the principle of being “my brother’s keeper” is no longer taught or seen, this is what happens. If we are not taught to do so, we won’t do it. If all I see is sex, drugs and money, than that is all I will know. Is it my fault that this is what now plagues our environments? No. When the pursuit of equality has been replaced by the pursuit of personal riches, what should anyone expect?
We’ve become the spoiled generation if anything, not apathetic. We care, just about completely different things than generations before us thanks to those same generations. We’re the generation where more negativity is heard about it, than positivity. If all we hear is that we are lost causes, doomed, misguided, ungrateful and dysfunctional what does anybody really expect? If 50% of young voters weren’t taught to value their voice, themselves or their vote, why would they care enough to vote? If they have learned systems are designed against them, and nobody tells them anything in the contrary, why would they be voting? If anything, we are the generation FAILED, because they forgot that morals are not innate but learned. It’s so easy for grandmothers, and great grandfathers to say what is wrong with our generation. My question is, what was wrong with theirs that has resulted in us being this way?
I completely agree with Charise. Our generation is in fact apathetic. I remember Jena 6. I wanted to go to the rally, but I had a test during one of the days the rally was taking place. When I spoke with my friends back home, they had never heard of it, and I was truly astounded. However, there are people in our generation that do take a stand. I believe that is linked towards people who attend institutes of higher learning. This election has stirred up more activity than ever with the younger generation.
After reading the argument, I ask myself, “am I really a part of this apathetic generation?” And in answering the question, I would say, “NO!” Yes, it does look as though we get everything handed to us, but that may only be because times have changed. No longer do we have to gather in mass crowds to protest the inequalities we still see in our nation. No longer do we have to show up on Washington to proclaim our support for Barack Obama. We can do all these things with a clock of a button. So if we are to blame someone or something, blame technology.
Just the other day I signed an “online petition” it was as easy as typing in my e-mail address, and name into the provided slots, and clicking “submit.” Manly older generations do say we are not as active, but that opinion could easily be changed when they look to see how many people supporting Barack are between eh ages of 18-29. And as for Rose, could you ask her, how many sit-ins she participated in, and how bus boy-cots directly affected her? Many people say they were a part of the movement, now that is over, and written in history, but we all know that only 77people were involved in the diner sit-in…was she in that number? Ok.
To each their own, and I agree with the idea, that if everyone does something, as little as it may be, it still makes a difference. As long as we are stagnant as a generation, and still looking towards progress, we can’t be considered apathetic. As a whole,. We need to focus on the future, and not let the past dictate our present. Maybe only ½ the young population voted in 2004, but today it’s 2008, and people are getting registered and I believe those same individuals will flood the polls, come November 4th, 2008. When we talk about “our” generation, we are talking about ourselves. And I refuse to claim that title!
Apathetic....a strong word. Jessica and the other commentator are right it is not that our generation is apathetic its that we are "miseducated" and "uninformed". My grandmother's young adulthood is totally different from mine. Racism, classism, and all other isms were overt, now things are done on a very indirect level. When thinking about my grandparents' generation another thing that comes to mind is that they shielded our parents and laid a foundation in which their grandchildren and even children could live a easy life. It is unfair to compare the obvious forms of rejection and discrimination to the unobvious. Many in our generation are unconcerned not because they are priviledged by parental support but because society under the guise of reform and modernization has told them that they are equal and that to attain their goals they must just strive. With that in mind, our generation (especially in the African American community) has a glass ceiling over it not a brick wall, as our grandparent's generation did. It is both unfair and inaccurate to say that our generation is apathetic and try to compare it to our grandparents' generation because generations equal years of difference.
I believe that rgeneration is more apathy than that of our elders, not purposly or intentionally, but because of how our generation has been brought up to think (when I say our generation, I am speaking for the majority). We have been more spoiled than our grandparents and although there are a few of us that care about politics and things concerning the black commmunity many of us dont, and I do think that this is a problem. And as jessica stated about the the Jena six trial, what took the black community so long to find out about it? I personally did not find out about it until a year later or so. It should have been broadcasted as soon as it happened, so that we could start getting involved. Also in regards to not being in any big marches or anything, this is true for our generation, but I think this is mainly because presently discrimination is more hidden than before our time and we choose to ignore the little forms of discrimination as a people. In thinking there is nothing wrong with society, we cannot do anything. So, I think that realization should come first, (how we come to a realization, I'm not sure), and then everything will fall right after.
Our generation is always been thought of as apathetic for not being able to show concern for issues that elders see as important. This is not true of our entire generation. We are always made to picture the times that they grew up in, and take heed to their experiences. Often times elders would not be able to picture our times and see how they would have survived at our age in today's world. We do take time to fit entertainment into our schedules but that doesn't make voting and hate crimes any less important. Gang viloence, gun violence, child abuse, and pregnancy are also issues that we hold to be important that elders can't always relate to. We could never experience the civil rights movement on the level that our elders did. We can only appreciate it and learn from it.
Our generation is always been thought of as apathetic for not being able to show concern for issues that elders see as important. This is not true of our entire generation. We are always made to picture the times that they grew up in, and take heed to their experiences. Often times elders would not be able to picture our times and see how they would have survived at our age in today's world. We do take time to fit entertainment into our schedules but that doesn't make voting and hate crimes any less important. Gang viloence, gun violence, child abuse, and pregnancy are also issues that we hold to be important that elders can't always relate to. We could never experience the civil rights movement on the level that our elders did. We can only appreciate it and learn from it.
Destinee Moore
I can definitely understand where Charise's grandmother is coming from, but only from a superficial level. I agree that our generation does posses the same fight as our predecessors when it comes to civil rights. That is because although the entire struggle is not over the breakthrough that African Americans have made has been more than significant between the 1960's and today. My parents and grandparents both come from eras where racism is blatantly present however; our generation is in an era where racism is often disguised as something else. How can we fight something that isn't visible to the eye? The answer is we can't.
However, in spite of the aforementioned, our generation still possesses the fight our ancestors instilled in us. However, we are just using it in different places. In comparison to 2008, the 1960’s were a time where African-Americans were very limited to what they could do. Today, African-Americans can do almost anything. Including fighting for women's rights in Darfur, being the first African American to have their own production studio and educating African Americans on why it is important to vote.
Our generation has so many options to choose from that we are no longer specializing in one area of domestic civil rights. Because we spread out it is nearly impossible to measure how "apathetic" we are to the world around us.
By
Marquise Alston
Though I can agree with the fact that apathy has stricken a great deal of young Americans, I really can't say that I would put much, if any, of the blame on the parents.
I see a great deal of young people who area extremely well-informed and do vote. However, a good deal of them developed that type of personality all on their own. They found something they felt deeply for and held on to it, some even despite the opinions of their parents and/or guardians.
So, in such a case, where should the blame eventually fall? With the people themselves. If some of these individuals would actually listen to the stories their elders told them and took them to heart rather then shoving them off to the back of their minds then it wouldn't be such a great problem. Many people follow the cry of 'the old days are gone' and 'times are different' to simply free themselves of the obligation to get off their behinds and muster up some common sense. The problem with apathy is much deeper than many would believe.
Parents and/or guardians who do not instill the proper values are, in some way, responsible but in order to truly become adults young Americans must learn to take responsibility themselves.
~Yvette A. Wade
This was very interesting to read. This is also my generation that is said to be "apathetic." I realize that there are young people out there that get evetything handed to them, they they have to say is "mom or dad, can I have this please?" and they get it. Fortunately or unfortuneately for me it does not work that way. Hard work and encouragement from my mom when the times are rough is how I acquire the things I own. The older generation may think our generation is apathetic, but I don't think so. I agree that we didn't participate in the million man march but we are doing our part.The issues we have today does not reqiure us to do a million man march.Even though there were protests in earler generations concerning racisim, it is still an issue today that faces our generation.What I am trying to say is the issues of today may not be the same and the way we go about solving them may not be the same as the generations before us, but I can assure there are issues that my generation are solving. To say we are apathetic, I think not.
I believe that characterizing an entire generation as anything is generalizing, and that in itself is wrong. Whether or not a person is apathetic is dependent upon several factor, such as how they were raised, who raised them, what socioecomomic status they were raised in and many other environmental circumstances of one's upbringing. I also feel that many individual factors of personal psychosocial development play a huge role in the types of people we become in once we reach adulthood. Therefore, I could only place individual blame based on what I knew of a specific individual's background and personal reasons for their participation, or lack there of, in what I might consider an important issue before I deemed them apethetic.
I don't believe that the current generation cares less about the issues at hand compared to the generations before us, I believe that the problems that people care about are just different. Now one could argue all day on the level of semantics that is involed when claiming that our issues are simply less important or not as influencial as, lets say, equal rights for African Americans. I do not believe that our generation cares less about these issues just that the responsibility is not a legislative one or political one, but a "actual living" application to the new cultural rules that are to be adheaded to. The cultural equality issue has lost its importance or hidden itself in an apathetic generation, it has shifted into a different form, as could be seen in more recent porblems of imagration, not only for people of latin decent but that of middle-eastern also.
Now I don't deny that fact that the current generation seems to have lost its public follow-through. It seems to talk is alot more fashionable than to take off work or a "self-fufilling engagement" than to perform one civic duty, whatever that may be. There seems to be a shift in ideologies that individualism, although as important as that is for the preservation of our nation's identity as a free democratic nation, has a greater importantance than serving ones nation for the greater good. Our generation tends to have such a cinical view of our nation and tends to become distant from it when the time comes to being involved in its processes. That view of our government can be blamed on the previous generation's action or lack there of. The important point to remember is that this is still a nation for the people by the people and if it is not governed by "us", who will pick our slack?
Considering what older generation passed through to get to this present state, I would say today's generation is aparthetic. This is an era when most of our youths are carried away by electronic inventions. Unlike before when most young minds were occupied with national issues,how it affects their own life and future, nowadays,all what they concentrate on is reality shows. There are too much distrations for this generation not to get distarted. From my own point of view,I believe it is glaring that this generation is apathetic in compare with the older generation. - Oluyinka Ajala
If I repeat a point or something else silly like that, I apologize in advance. I treid to skim everything, but I only have so much clas time to spare. ;)
Apathy is a good word, and I agree it applies to many people of our generation. I meet someone new every week who's just doing enough to scrape by. Hey, I was one of those individuals before my latter years of high school. Not until recently did I care a thing for politics or any such nonsense. I woulda been one of those "Who's Sarah Palin?" types...
I make this arguement, and as I said agree that the general populace is apathetic (Or rather, not caring enough to make a difference.) I don't believe this trend is specific to our generation or any other. The percentage of young people who vote has always been abysmally low. And while I agree that your representation for the Jena Six thing was kinda poor, I think that such is an excellent way of measureing ourself against the other generatios, which really have not had much more or less participation.
Also, think about it like this. alot of the reason we fall victom to the apathy arguement is because there are fewer "Heroes" such MLK Jr. in our generation. There are also fewer reasons (With the exception of perhaps most recent events) for those heroes to emerge. While we are sadly far from racial equality, the steps have already been taken to end that. More MLK Jr.'s won't help us...
One more thing I like to add, because Mrs. Green is telling us to finish up. :) there are perhaps a handful of heroes in a generation. A handful of individuals. A simple handful of unapathetic individuals. That's all it takes to make a generation look good, is a few revoloutionaries, a few leaders. Sure, they influence the otherwise "Apathetic" people around them to do great thing, but in every generation, I beleive there are only a select few who care enough to actually work their tails off, stick their neck out there, and make a difference. I don't know if my fellow posters have that motivation or not, I'm not here to point a finger in either direction. I just think once our generational leaders emerge, we'll pass the "Apathy torch onto the next generation...
End of story.
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