The March for Our Lives that unfolded across the nation Saturday was heartening to see. As we boomers, products of the ’60s and ’70s can attest, getting youth activated and engaged in the public process can result in change. And yet, a 17-minute school walkout and a single march are not “change.” They’re a beginning, not an end.
To the youth who took part, I say welcome to the fray of changing the minds of policymakers who are entrenched, and in many cases funded by the very groups who stand opposed to new gun-safety measures. This work has been going on for years, led by many who are the age of the parents of the kids we saw on March 24. Groups such as Mayors Against Gun Violence, Moms Demand Action, Everytown and others have done the marching, lobbying and protesting. We welcome youth to the movement.
I’ve heard comparisons between what we saw unfold in the March for Our Lives and the protest movements we engaged in during the ’60s and ’70s. To that I say, “Not so fast.”
History shows — and for many of us experience affirms — that when we took to the streets as youth back in the ’60s, the effort was an extended one that involved significant sacrifice. We saw a president assassinated, a presidential candidate assassinated, a civil-rights leader shot and killed. There were four students shot and killed by the National Guard during a protest rally on the Kent State campus. A president was taken down. We listened to phony body-count reports about Vietnam. As we watched our dads, brothers and sons ship off to ‘Nam, we didn’t realize at the time the thousands who were killed on some rice paddy around the Mekong Delta.
Donald Trump didn’t invent “fake news.” We experienced it first hand in that era as a way of justifying the war.
During that time period, we were working in the streets for a change in culture. Issues such as civil rights, women’s rights and the environment were all a part of what motivated us to action. Vietnam and presidential lies validated our need to fight for change. It wasn’t one march. It took a sustained effort that was costly in terms of lives. The kids who marched last week can only read about it. But now, they can carry on and fight for today’s culture change.
The nation was shocked when the Columbine shootings occurred. That was nearly 20 years ago. The youth who marched last weekend weren’t even born. That’s how long many of us have been working on this issue. How many times have you heard or read “what will it take” before change is made? Sandy Hook didn’t get it done. Neither of our Tucson shootings were the catalyst for significant change. Aurora, Charleston, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Orlando — none were enough to motivate the youth movement we are now seeing.
Parkland was the catalyst for a brief school walkout and a large nationwide march. I’ve told the Metropolitan Education Commission Youth Advisory Council that what they need to do is find an issue that drives their passion, then use that energy to bring change by getting educated on the facts and putting in place a focused action plan. The change you seek will not come quickly. Be ready for the long haul.
Ours is a nation that was founded through citizen action that included sacrifice. That’s in our national DNA. I’m hopeful that what we are seeing after Parkland is more than a march. I’m hopeful that it’s youth finally having found the public-policy issue that energizes them to get involved. We haven’t seen that at any scale since “back in the day.”
