“I can’t be that old!” I muttered when I saw the latest cover of my Harvard alumni magazine. It commemorated the year 1969, 50 years ago, with the phrase “Time of Turmoil.” The article explains how “The images of that time remain vivid for those who lived through it “
They’re more than vivid for me. The campus turned into Protest Alley and tear gas rose up from the streets. There were civil rights marches and demonstrations and students demanding African-American studies. There was a blossoming Women’s Liberation Movement as the women’s college Radcliffe merged with Harvard. Today’s activists use similar strategies of marches, signs and slogans, but with an internet megaphone.
Deborah LevineWhile many 60s issues linger, other “Me Generation” causes seem outdated today. More than 58,000 American youths gave their lives in the Vietnam War. The war may seem like ancient history, but it’s because of our protests that young people are no longer subject to the draft. The damage of Agent Orange was immoral, and campus protests against its corporate producer, Dow Chemical, shut down universities. Students were considered unpatriotic thugs, but, thankfully, chemical warfare is now banned. Corporate involvement in politics was, and remains, high on our list of protest targets. Sound familiar? Yet we aging activists often look quaint, at best, and annoyingly ever-present.
Why the bad press? The powers-that-be back then saw us as self-important agitators and foolish idealists. The nickname “Me Generation” emerged and stuck, never as a compliment. The term was recently used to describe Boomers by an opinion columnist in The Washington Post. ” … the generation that was born into some of the strongest job growth in the history of America, gobbled up the best parts, and left its children and grandchildren with some bones to pick through and a big bill to pay. Politicians … should be asking how future workers can claw back some of the spoils that the ‘Me Generation’ hoarded for itself.”
But Boomer activism was about revolution, not exploitation. That brings us to today’s young activists. As the memory of our activism fades, the disdain is being applied to the younger generations of protesters. When you Google “Me Generation,” what comes up in the search is not Baby Boomers, but Millennials. Take a closer look and it’s 1969 all over again.