Professionalism

Torch Passed

July 17, 2008

 

Last week, for about a 24-hour period, the media turned its full attention to the ”hot mic,” comments made by the Reverend Jesse Jackson about Senator Barak Obama.  In case you missed the brouhaha, Jackson, a former presidential candidate himself, was recorded saying that he would like to emasculate the apparent Democratic nominee because Obama has been “talking down to black people.”
 
That comment and the reaction that followed—Jackson’s son decried his father’s comments as divisive—is  proof yet again that we are experiencing a major generational shift.  In general, today’s T-Ball Generation is 100% comfortable with diversity.  They tend not to see the black/white division that previous generations encountered.  And their comfort with diversity extends way beyond race.  I suspect state efforts to promote some form of gay marriage or civil union will be readily accepted by today’s youngest voters.
 
The frustration anyone might have heard in Reverend Jackson’s remarks is easy to explain.  Like so many other Baby Boomers, Jackson must now confront the fact that his time to lead may have come and gone.  Today’s newest voters are not interested in replaying the battles of previous generations.  The T-Ball Generation instead seeks new solutions for problems, even if the new solution is a very old-fashioned idea like taking responsibility for the children one has produced.
 
Reverend Jackson, be prepared to step aside.  The torch has been passed yet again to a new generation of leaders inside and outside of the civil rights movement.

 




 



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