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Bud Struggle
12th August 2008, 22:01
Nine pages but worth the read from the NYTimes Magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/magazine/10politics-t.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

As I read it, I could understand the tension between those Black Leaders whose lives were shaped by the power, the violence and their own courage during the civil rights struggles and the new generation of leaders who happen to be Black and are the recipients of what these older leaders fought for but who see the world differently because of this.

But as I was finishing it, it seemed to me that this entire generational shift is occuring throughout the society.

Is this not the same dynamic which is occurring in the women's movement, where younger women are often accused of not appreciating the struggles of their mothers and why Clinton's most ardent supporters are women over 50?

Is this not the same generational changes that we speak of when we talk about how the up and coming generation see jobs and careers and even investments very differently from the boomer generation? Or how they view social and moral values?

I have read articles that many older gay men lament that young gays, able to come out and be who they are in high school, don't understand and appreciate what it was like to be gay in the 50's 60's and 70's. much less the devastation of the AIDS crisis of the 80's. Is this not the same thing as the article speaks of?

It seems to me we are going through a generational shift in this society in so many areas baby boomers begin to slow down, relinquish power and influence and the new generation comes forward to take the reins to shape the world so it reflects who they are and their experiences.

Even I, in the past year or so, have begun to feel as if there is a new world emerging, and it's one of the reason's I'm interested in the doings and saying on RevLeft.

Good article. Obviously raised more reaction from me than just an intellectual response to what is happening in the black community.

534634634265
12th August 2008, 22:08
to speculate that a change in consciousness over generational lines is a new thing is a rather short-sighted view though, eh? every generation has taken something from those before it, be it knowledge or ignorance, truth or lies.

trivas7
12th August 2008, 22:10
"Black" politics. What a joke.

Bud Struggle
12th August 2008, 22:21
"Black" politics. What a joke.

Not at all. Blacks have been ghettoized by running for office in primarily black urban centers. Most of their "leaders" (second generation leaders) like Sharpton and Jackson are jokes, the mayor of Detroit is in jail, for heaven sake.

Obama is the first Black leader that anyone can actually take seriously since MLK.



to speculate that a change in consciousness over generational lines is a new thing is a rather short-sighted view though, eh? every generation has taken something from those before it, be it knowledge or ignorance, truth or lies.
That's quite true. Even in the Capitalist set. 'Twas a day when a guy was proud of the way he made his money. Palm Beach used to be full of "Bernie Swartzs, the Button King" kind of guys. In my day--you had to be diversified with multiple streams of income, all VERY different from one another. Now a days the 25 to 35 year olds are already out. They made their money and they are out of their business--sold or taken public or whatever. Most barely remember how they made their money--too busy model bopping.

mykittyhasaboner
13th August 2008, 00:04
Obama is the first Black leader that anyone can actually take seriously since MLK.
why? because he's running for president? fancy rhetoric doesn't mean he should be taken seriously.

RGacky3
13th August 2008, 21:50
why? because he's running for president? fancy rhetoric doesn't mean he should be taken seriously.

I think he means taken seriously by the political and economic elite, which is a group I have very little respect for.

Bud Struggle
13th August 2008, 23:00
I think he means taken seriously by the political and economic elite, which is a group I have very little respect for.

He may be taken seriously if elected President. He's not play acting like we RevLefters are. He's the real thing.

Magdalen
13th August 2008, 23:05
"We fear that Obama will feel that, because he is black with an inferiority complex, this will make him behave worse than the whites,"

Muammar Gaddafi


I'm tempted to agree with Colonel Gaddafi on this one.

TheCultofAbeLincoln
14th August 2008, 04:11
why? because he's running for president? fancy rhetoric doesn't mean he should be taken seriously.

Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Shirley Chisholm all ran for President. Obama is the only one who has a serious chance at the worlds most powerful position, which is enough for anyone to take seriously.


I think he means taken seriously by the political and economic elite, which is a group I have very little respect for....so the majority of American voters who support Obama are in the "political and economic elite?" :confused:

Unless you don't think the POTUS is an influential figure, you should take him seriously.


I'm tempted to agree with Colonel Gaddafi on this one.That says it all.