By: Donovan X. Ramsey
There have been numerous incidents in recent years that have driven a wedge between the generation that I belong to and the generations that have proceeded. The most notable being when "America's father," Bill Cosby asked at the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, "Who are these sick Black people and where did they come from and why haven't they been parented to shut up?" The sick Black people referred to, and the topics of his rant and a subsequent book, were the youth of Black America. "These people" who apparently stopped being our people somewhere around the early 90's are consistent subjects of controversy and conversation. From nightly news sound bites to the many panel discussions on Hip-Hop, the message is clear: "these people" are f*****g up.
Those who pose questions like Cosby's would ask us to take a break from contextual analysis. They would have us believe that somewhere circa 1980; black babies sprung up from the ground (much like Cabbage Patch Kids) to wreck havoc and destroy all the gains of the Civil Rights Movement. They would have us believe that after every Black person over 60 banded together and walked shoulder to shoulder with Dr. King and created a perfect launching pad for the race, young people with the help of Rap music, began subsequently dismantling it. Somewhere in between that time; they also created the n-word, child illegitimacy, and crack. While this may be the most convenient answer (however improbable), the simplest one is that they came from those who came before.
While Cosby's comments represent an extreme, he is just the tip and one facet of the iceberg. Another facet is how the conflict between the old guard Black leadership and Black youth culture has been heightened by the 2008 Presidential election, one that has proven itself to have special significance. In a race that has become increasingly about a shift of generations, ideas, and perspectives, it was no surprise to me that prominent Civil Rights leaders like former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and Georgia Representative John Lewis expressed support for Senator Hillary Clinton despite the groundswell of support among Black voters for Senator Barack Obama (young people in particular). It is also no surprise to me that the one group that I have had the most hostile debates with, about the election, have been Black Americans 45+. In short, this is indicative of a fundamental difference between the worldviews of two generations and the struggle it has produced. On one hand you have a generation that lived with and, in many cases, personally experienced the brutality of pre-Civil Rights America. They fought the good fight and carried the torch of advancing Black interests in a time when doing so could prove lethal. They appealed to the system and worked well within it. For that, they deserve our abiding respect and gratitude. What they don't deserve, however, is to hold the torch forever. They shouldn't carry that torch forever not because they aren't able (our elders have been tested and have earned their stripes) but because the world is changing and it is no longer their cross to bear. On the other hand, you have members of a generation who have benefited from the gains of the Civil rights Movement and have had to come of age in a society with a much more sophisticated racist power structure. We have a higher profile and through Hip-Hop have been given the most powerful voice in all of media (partly because we "haven't been parented to shut up.")
The difference in our experience and the contrast in our approaches have seemingly caused a rift but is the generational gap really that wide? I believe not and I think the first step to bridging it is in remembering that "these people" are indeed our people. Although a recent graduate of Morehouse College may not think, speak, or dress like Dr. King, it does not mean that he is less qualified to lead because after all, this hour doesn't need another Dr. King. In the words of that great man, "This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed non-conformists." So I ask anyone 45+ and within eyeshot of this page to realize that "these people" came from you people and to focus less on the package and more on the content because the dedication that Dr. King spoke of could very well come in the form of a rapper just as it could a Southern preacher.
2 comments:
Great article DonX. You couldn't have been more right. It's almost as if many of the older people forget that they were once young as well. It would make since that with society and the world at large becoming more complex that the ills of society would as well. We, as America's youth, are victims of our environment. Victims of ridicule, frustration, and a host of other things that continuously seek to throw us to the dogs habitually. We need a poistive
I would agree and disagree with your article. I am the bridge for both generations (36) and understand the complexities. I think there has always been a generational gap and will always be a generation gap. When the SNCC was formed it was because the elders in the Struggle wouldn't listen to the youth of the Struggle. We are experiencing this now. I believe that sometimes we all need to learn the fine art of listening.
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