Blind youth of the 90's
Nancy Hwang
Issue date: 2/4/10 Last update: 2/4/10 at 4:22 AM PST
Section: OpEd
The youth of yesterday’s past toiled in paving a road to freedom that we so rarely cross today. The generation of the 90's—my generation—has lost sight of the never- changing picture.
The youth of today wants to care, but we have been brainwashed by the media to care about unimportant things.
The media concentrates on current celebrities instead of politicians and the latest beauty regimens rather than the ugly death provided by on-going wars around the world. Have the utopian ideas that John and Bobby Kennedy fought and died for vanished with the present generation?
In the 1950s, getting married and having children was considered by society, to be the norm. Women were stay-at-home mothers. Men were the prominent providers for families and had substantial careers. America was sleeping under a quilt of perfect suburbia.
A decade later, the Vietnam War had begun and the youth of the 60s were more than ready to fight. Blacks were rioting in the streets for justice. Women demanded equal rights, and to have careers of their own. The draft allowed everyone to have a direct connection to the Vietnam War.
Almost every singer of that time had a song with an underlying theme to “Stop The War!” There has not been as large of a movement protesting against racism, sexism and wars since then.
When the tragedy of the World Trade Center occurred, it was the first time I had witnessed America’s people coming together as a whole. People, all of a sudden, were awake. It is disturbing to me how quickly we closed our eyes to the injustices of the world, and went back to our everyday lives to wait until the next major catastrophe hits home.
The “Fortune 500 Club” today is still predominantly all white men, the war in the Middle East is still going on and the poor stay poor, as the rich get richer. I can’t tell if we are moving forward or retreating. The youth of today must have a clear vision in order to begin the journey towards a better tomorrow.
The youth of today wants to care, but we have been brainwashed by the media to care about unimportant things.
The media concentrates on current celebrities instead of politicians and the latest beauty regimens rather than the ugly death provided by on-going wars around the world. Have the utopian ideas that John and Bobby Kennedy fought and died for vanished with the present generation?
In the 1950s, getting married and having children was considered by society, to be the norm. Women were stay-at-home mothers. Men were the prominent providers for families and had substantial careers. America was sleeping under a quilt of perfect suburbia.
A decade later, the Vietnam War had begun and the youth of the 60s were more than ready to fight. Blacks were rioting in the streets for justice. Women demanded equal rights, and to have careers of their own. The draft allowed everyone to have a direct connection to the Vietnam War.
Almost every singer of that time had a song with an underlying theme to “Stop The War!” There has not been as large of a movement protesting against racism, sexism and wars since then.
When the tragedy of the World Trade Center occurred, it was the first time I had witnessed America’s people coming together as a whole. People, all of a sudden, were awake. It is disturbing to me how quickly we closed our eyes to the injustices of the world, and went back to our everyday lives to wait until the next major catastrophe hits home.
The “Fortune 500 Club” today is still predominantly all white men, the war in the Middle East is still going on and the poor stay poor, as the rich get richer. I can’t tell if we are moving forward or retreating. The youth of today must have a clear vision in order to begin the journey towards a better tomorrow.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
chris weidenbach
posted 2/04/10 @ 11:49 PM PST
Ms. Hwang:
Great way to lead off the semester!
Your essay shares a compelling social-historical fly-over and expression of reasonable, people-based concerns--and we need more of that these days. (Continued…)
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