I believe that in the age of “fake news”, there is a huge segment of suburban boomers who have developed thick blinders and impenetrable defense mechanisms that obscure them from ever seeing what the other half of the country is really like, and that the only remaining way to get through to them, is through their kids.
So where does this home team advantage come from? A couple reasons:
- You can hold their attention longer than anyone else: your parents are pretty much the only people who can’t (and won’t) block you, unfollow you, or ignore you. Family gatherings allow for extended conversation that aren’t typically afforded in any other setting. Yes, there’s the age old adage of “don’t bring politics to the dinner table”, but perhaps that’s why the disconnect is as big as it is already.
- They can’t deny your experiences: The “fake news” crowd is pretty quick to deny and downplay life experiences that are different from theirs. It’s harder to do when it’s your own kid. Use examples from your own life, such as how you had the advantages of privilege vs. the experiences of a black person or LGBTQ person you might know. You have half of the convincing done for you at least.
- They may not care about anyone else, but they’ll care about you: Something different happened in the 2020 protests that hasn’t really happened before; white suburban kids joined the protests. For the first time, their parents couldn’t generalize all the protesters as “rioters” and “thugs”…their own sons and daughters were in that crowd. For the first time, they had to be concerned by how the police might treat their kid; that they might be treated like…a black person. For the first time, their own children had first-hand accounts that could flat-out deny what they were hearing on Fox News. Your parents live vicariously through you, and only you can take advantage of that.
Almost every white person I know has “that” family member…the “that’s just how they are” one…the “he’s always been that way” one…the “he’s a little racist, but he’s really nice to me” one. The problem is that if every family has a couple of those, that equals a whole lot of people. Perhaps enough people to change an election.
I believe that if everyone took the time to enlighten and inform one of their own, we’d solve an awful lot of things very quickly.
