I’m angry so it’s time to rant.
I am not part of Gen Z. Well I am, but I don’t think of it that way. I am part of the generation that is no longer proud to be an American.
When I was growing up, being American was described as being free. Being independent. And I suppose, yes that’s true. But as I grow, the more that ceases to inspire me. As I grow I’m learning that there’s more to it than that.
I am part of a society that stands up for others, that challenges stereotypes. But I am also part of a society that dismisses the struggles of minorities because they are ‘being dramatic’. I am an unwilling part of a country that uses sexual assault and harassment of men as a way to dismiss a woman who went through something traumatic. I am a part of a country that supports sexism and racism as a base part of our culture. I am part of a culture that looks over the mental health of our youth and uses the internet as a weapon against people who don’t fit in with society’s expectations of them. I am part of a country that holds bias against people of color, against people of different sexualities and genders. I am a part of a culture that embraces bullying and sexual harassment as a normal part of life. I am part of a culture that still uses the n word, when we have absolutely no right to do so. I am part of a culture that used the n word as a derogatory term for so long, and then when the people that the word is geared towards turned it into something less harmful, we tried to take it away from them. We gave them that label! And then we want to use it as our own. It isn’t ours. I belong to a country who ignores the thousands of missing and murdered indigenous women, because they are apparently not worthy of investigation. I am part of the country who still will not accept that love is love and that there is scientific proof surrounding the difference between someone’s physical gender and actual gender. I am a part of the country that has a literal carrot for a president and is in love with this toxic cancel culture that we have built around ourselves. I am an unwilling part of a country that still suffers from racial prejudice and bias.
But I am also a part of a new generation. I am a part of a generation that speaks out about things that are unacceptable. I am a part of a new America, a new world. Because we know what it’s like. We know how much it hurts to be bullied, to be attacked and dismissed. We know what it means to be in pain, and we know what it means to see something bad and stand against it. These things have happened to us and to our friends. We have the knowledge of the people who came before us. We see our ancestors mistakes and we avoid them. We see the flaws and we try to be better. And I speak only for myself. But I know for a fact that I will be DAMNED if my children grow up in the same world that we live in today. I will be DAMNED if I don’t do every single thing in my power to change things for my children and there children. And I’ll be damned if I don’t raise them to do the same thing for their children and everyone around them. We need to make this world a better place for the future generations.
I am a part of the generation that is ashamed to be an American and I am going to do everything I can to fix that.