My grandmother was a schoolteacher in Winona, Miss., back when black folks knew that trying to vote would cost them their jobs. She was so fearful of retribution that she didn’t want Aunt Pearlie’s boyfriend, a young civil rights activist, hanging around on the front porch. She was afraid that people would recognize him.
After the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, a few of her colleagues registered. But it was not until Martin Luther King’s last campaign — a procession of mules plodding from Marks, Miss., to Atlanta — that she fully embraced the vote. The mules arrived at Winona’s courthouse, wearing signs that read, “I have been to the mountaintop.” Grandma Jones invited some of the young activists to sleep at her house for the night. A few months later, she cast the first ballot of her life, at age 46.
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As someone who grew up in the sixties and followed the last campaign of Robert Kennnedy it has been very hard to watch the grwing apathy of your youth. They have no sense of history, believeing only that freedomes exist today because they have always existed. this generation is truly the generation of "WHO CARES"
i suppose starting all over again will eventualy get the attention of the next generation. By then all the advances our generation made will sit like ruins, in the pages of history.
If Mitt wins with a paltry showing from the young it is they that will suffer the most. One day they wil understand. But that day is not today.
The only hope i have as i write this on election morning is that latinos and womenr will show up. They seem to be the only ones who can save this country from being run over like a freight train by the rich.
This generation of 18-30 year olds will go down as the worst in out nations histry
I agree with everything you've said but...Let's acknowledge that some young people are out there, not in the numbers we'd like to see but they are out there and active in campaigns. Some are out there in the Occupy Movement, protesting against not a political party but a way of life much as Martin Luther King did althouh certainly not with as must wisdom, political skill, and impact.
And to my daughter, who voted for the first time in a presidential election—and with an absentee ballot, I say i am proud of you.
Pray for this generation and the world we've handed to them.
Congrats to your daughter for voting for the first time! Yes, it is true that a few of these young people are engaged. I was simply stunned to see the level of engagement in the 1960s - and how they had to drag many of the grown-ups along. Thanks to the people of your generation who made so many good things happen. I think in many ways, this election and the divisions we have in society today are the unfinished battles of that era.
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I can understand why young people are disillusioned with the political process. I first voted in 1974 and I am disillusioned. Thanks to the Supreme Court we have been constantly bombarded with attack ads as corporate America spews its propaganda across the airwaves. Today we will be allowed to vote for a corporate democrat or even more corporate republican for president whose campaigns were both bankrolled by the same people. Of course your vote only counts if you live in a swing state and thanks to our 18th century electoral system the person who gets the most votes doesn’t necessarily win. Why wouldn’t they be disillusioned?
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This generation seems more concerned about the next smart phone than it does about politics. If Taylor Swift is representative of them we are in serious trouble. Bring back the draft and I'll bet well see far more activism.
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I don't think citing a small number of celebrities defines an entire generation of young people.
I agree with the premise that the sacrifice of generations past reminds us of the importance of voting. But citing pop stars' apathy doesn't seem to be a fair indictment of the current youth generation. There are certainly many young people today making great contributions, and certainly voting as well. We "older folks" need to consider the role we play in encouraging (or not) the youth vote. For instance, just saw on the CIRCLE website info from their recent poll that less than 15% of young voters in swing states have been contacted by a campaign. Such low expcations don't help!
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I can report that both of my children, at out of state colleges, voted for the first time by absentee ballot. Trust me, it wasn't easy to motivate them to do this, as they are as disillusioned with elections as much as I am. But I am proud that they both mailed them in.
First, they told me about how the political messaging was presented to them in the areas they now call home, and how they and their classmates were able to filter through the talking points and twisting of facts, and especially identify who spent money on the ads. I'd say the current generation is already pretty savvy when it comes to advertising.
I didn't ask or pursuade either way about their choices, and they did not divulge them. It is their private decision as it should be. I'm sure we'll catch up on Thanksgiving break. But after they mailed them in, when they asked, I was open and honest with my thoughts and choices. I left the presidency vacant for the first time in my life, as I felt neither were truly worthy candidates. Obama sorely lacks leadership skills and follows his own agenda instead of unifying the country, and Romney is a shell of the man who ran for governor here a few years ago - I have no idea who he is or what he'll really do. That was painful to admit, but explained my reasons. I was also more comfortable voting for a sitting senator with a track recaord - that I wasn't 100% in agreement with - rather than a candidate hand-picked by the White House and packaged by political strategists to appear as a community-oriented, grass-roots candidate. They're both females, and disagreed, but I explained I'd prefer someone who will earn my vote everyday rather than one follows a different agenda the morning of November 7th.
To the rest of the first-time voters, hats off to you all. And, as I told them, you personally can always make a bigger difference and have a more positive influence in the community and the world outside of the civic duty you performed today.
The statistic: "16 percent of 18- to- 20-year-olds voted in the 2010 midterm election, according to the Census Bureau, compared with 51 percent of people between 45 and 64." is telling though I would like to know how that compares with say 20/30 years ago. I read "Bowling Alone" a while ago, which is about how people have shown less and less community involvement over time. The author (Putnam) outlined a number of factors for these changes: TV, increased workforce participation of women, decrease in union ranks etc but a large factor he cited was "Generational". In some sense the Greatest Generation marked a peak in Civic participation. They participated in high percentages and continue(d) to do so for their whole lives. Their involvement was sparked by the tremendous coming together of society required for WWII. The fact that young people aren't voting or protesting in droves signals to me that things aren't that bad for them. To them the effort to understand and act is not worth it's perceived benefits. And the government they get will reflect that.
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Where is bcarman when we need him?
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Where's the follow up story based on yesterday's youth turnout?