A co-worker of mine told me yesterday that our generation, Generation Y, is now known as the ‘whatever’ generation.
Why? Because that’s how we react to things. Apparently, according to my co-worker, people in the 45+ age group still place race near the top of their list in regard to the upcoming presidential election.
People in our age group, 18+, say, ‘whatever.’ Two gay men want to get married? Whatever. A black guy is dating a white girl. Whatever.
What mattered to our parents’ generation is apparently so much more commonplace today that we don’t even notice or react to it.
We just say “okay,” as if it’s no big deal. And it isn’t.
Initially, this tag seems pretty positive. We are a generation of tolerant, accepting people who embrace differences in others.
We celebrate the diversity of people in our country. We don’t question other people’s choices. We don’t judge people based on superficialities.
But, is that really true?
Out of our generation came those who killed Matthew Shepard simply because he was gay. Out of our generation came the Jena Six, the black teenagers who beat up a white teenager in Louisiana. Out of our generation came the Abu Ghraib scandal.
So, is the ‘whatever’ generation really one of tolerance and acceptance? Or is it that instead of standing up and fighting for or against something, we are just sitting back and watching it happen?
Unlike our parents, most of us aren’t out on the streets, protesting for or against the civil rights movement.
We aren’t lying in front of tanks or putting flowers in guns. No, our generation is sitting at our computers, reading about what’s going on in the world.
This isn’t to say that there are no people fighting for freedom and equality. There most certainly are, and I applaud those that are. There are people my age fighting in Iraq right now, people in other countries standing up for the rights of their sisters and mothers, their friends and even strangers. But, much of our ‘whatever’ generation is just watching it pass by. I am just guilty of it as any other person.
Awareness of issues is important. Creating dialogue about issues is important, too.
But, with an election just around the corner, it is time for our generation to stand up and say, ‘Race doesn’t matter. Gender doesn’t matter. We just want a leader with integrity, reliability, (fill in adjectives here).’ Is that so much to ask?
Would we really rather be remembered as the ‘whatever’ generation than the generation that decided to stand up and continue the fight? It might be a slightly different fight then those before us fought, but that doesn’t make it not worth fighting for.
