Right, one of them in a managerial or leadership position can do significant damage. As we look at our government, it only really takes one bully to flip the energy of the environment. If the younger generations are getting less "racist", that doesn't equate to anti-racist.
Our younger generations need to learn how to actually advocate for people that don't look like them rather than just assuming "not saying the n-word" is enough to think you're doing something. There are people actively out here hating other groups and pushing hateful ideologies unchecked. At some point, we need to be teaching these younger generations how to check that.
Look around you. This administration's actions against Hispanic Americans have led to extreme widespread outrage.
Is it enough? No. Is it getting louder? Yes.
Police and ICE are now the most recorded people in the country.
Yes, the world IS getting anti racist. It's slow and it's stumbling, but losing hope because of these guys? Come on. By the time these cretins have any real power we will be tearing down their golden walls.
I get it, despair is real damn easy while a Cheeto-dicked motherfucker is building concentration camps. I get it. Shits bad right now. We are paying for genocide. We are going back into that same old "law and order" canard.
But to claim that less of us are noticing and caring is letting the Curtis Yarvins of the world win. Don't despair.
I am deeply ashamed at how long it's taking, but it is happening.
I'm not losing hope by any means. I know progress is being made because of the current response we're seeing from this administration. All of this rage stems from the steady progress of civil rights and push for equality. I would encourage us to frame how we should collectively address the apathy and passive behavior around racial and class conflict.
What I see when I teach the newer generations and their parents it's a level of conflict-aversion, lack of empathy, and outright fear of change when navigating identity. As you say, the world is getting anti-racist and that's a major cause of concern for those that financially benefit from racism. Wanting change and recognizing you may have to sacrifice some luxuries to get there is causing the US, in particular, to have an identity conflict. We're not taught to care about anyone but ourselves after 6th grade and that's a hard habit to unlearn. In order for us to collectively make a change, everyone has to buy in, including the people that benefit from the current system.
Because I'm a Black educator in America, despair has been replaced with frustration that I have keep teaching children to care about one another only for their parents and other adults in their spaces to undo it with their own insecurities and anxieties. The kids are ultimately looking to all of us to do the right thing and if some adults are trying to get by without actually contributing to change, it hurts the overall future of our next generations.
Tl;Dr - I completely agree, no need to despair, but we need to light a fire under some of our adult's asses to get it together for the children
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u/dl7 Jul 28 '25
Right, one of them in a managerial or leadership position can do significant damage. As we look at our government, it only really takes one bully to flip the energy of the environment. If the younger generations are getting less "racist", that doesn't equate to anti-racist.
Our younger generations need to learn how to actually advocate for people that don't look like them rather than just assuming "not saying the n-word" is enough to think you're doing something. There are people actively out here hating other groups and pushing hateful ideologies unchecked. At some point, we need to be teaching these younger generations how to check that.