The other night I was talking with my parents and reflecting on
all we had accomplished during our respective times in college.
They started to tell me stories about their college life during
the late 1960s and how they were so fired up to create change back
then. Thousands of students all over the nation took to the streets
in civil rights, anti-war and pro-democracy demonstrations.
I told my parents that I admired the spirit of their generation
for standing up for what they believed in, despite the
consequences.
My parents replied, “Thanks, but I wish your generation
wasn’t so apathetic and would do more to make a
difference.”
I’m tired of us being labeled as “the apathetic
generation” by baby boomers and professors, so I want to
clarify the truth behind this label.
The popular stereotype says that all our generation does is
watch television, play video games, and try to get rich so we can
live like our superstar idols. They think we don’t get
involved in politics because we are myopic and apathetic. At most,
we might vote ““ but that’s about it.
But I don’t think it is apathy that turns our generation
off from politics. The institutions that control our daily lives
are steadily becoming less accountable to the people they’re
supposed to serve.
You can see this lack of democracy all around us. We have seen
it in the 2000 election fraud. We have seen it in the Enron
scandal. We can see it whenever a cop beats a black teenager
against the hood of his patrol car.
But what can we do? We can vote for whatever candidates the
Fortune 500 decides to endorse. We can write letters to our elected
officials, but they don’t listen unless the letter includes a
big contribution.
It’s easy to see why we sometimes feel so
disempowered.
But my parents said, “Yeah, we had all those problems,
too.” In fact, every generation has had to deal with
disempowerment.
I tried to tell my parents that more and more kids are feeling
empowered and trying to positively affect their communities and the
world at large. For example, on the weekend of April 20, about
100,000 people converged on Washington, D.C., to nonviolently voice
dissent on issues from Middle East policy to the legalization of
marijuana.
I have personally participated in a variety of protests. But
because protesting is no longer something novel, the media
doesn’t pay as much attention to our activities as they did
back in my parents’ day.
To feel inspired to become active, students first need to feel
like their voice matters ““ and part of this comes from
ground-level involvement in our university.
It’s only within the last 40 years that students have been
treated simply as consumers within universities, and the major
focus for university administrators has shifted from the academic
to the financial.
While in the ’60s students were pushing for ““ and
achieving ““ meaningful representation in university senates
and other decision-making bodies, today there is a belief that the
running of a university has nothing to do with the students.
This notion has gradually encouraged a culture of passive
acceptance from students of their role within universities, and as
an extension, society in general.
Furthermore, students today are often attending universities
with clear career goals in mind, which means they are more
concerned with their GPAs than with gaining a broad liberal
education.
Today, students may fear retribution from the university if they
get involved in on-campus radicalism. Students accept their role as
consumers, and thus do not see the point of making a stand against
university policy or decisions.
African American studies Professor Paul Von Blum explained that
growing up in the shadow of the Reagan era of greed has caused our
generation to become selfish.
Combined with increased demand for jobs, this may discourage
students from storming the chancellor’s office, as they may
fear jeopardizing their later job prospects through expulsion.
The activism of the ’60s and ’70s left a strong
legacy for the passionate students of today, and while the ethos of
protest and dissent is a valuable inheritance, it does not mean
that the ways of protesting employed then are the only ways of
being heard now.
In those days, student action generated great fear and concern
among the government and powerful members of society. The culture
of the time encouraged involvement, regardless of whether a student
was impassioned.
Now we are the fearful ones, as our government feeds us daily
color-coded terror reports. For today’s student, disenchanted
with the usual means of protest, activism demands a level of
commitment that many students are unwilling to give.
Many may think that if you feel strongly about an issue, the
only course of action is to join a group or attend a protest.
Real protest, though, as innovated in the ’60s and
’70s, is a constant committed effort of making your voice
heard, living your beliefs, and joining with others in whatever way
to make a difference.
Thirty years after students were last seen as a powerful
revolutionary force, perhaps a new wave of protest is building.
Technological and social changes, combined with nearly five
years of conservative government, may mean that more students will
be impassioned enough to overcome the difficulties and innovate new
ways of protest that have an impact in today’s world.
Then students will take their place, once more, as the leaders
of radical action.
Whelan is a fourth-year communication studies
student.