Quotation:

“About a hundred and fifty people had shown up for Abrams’s event, which had been organized by Fair Fight Action. Many of them were older white people, and some had volunteered for her campaign” (Cobb 4).

Comment:

This quote comes from the piece Stacey Abrams’s Fight for a Fair Vote, and is referring to Abrams’s visit to the “overwhelming white” Dalton, Georgia during her campaign (Cobb 4). The author noted that some might have seen that as a waste of time, “a seed tossed onto arid soil”, as the town is notably Republican (Cobb 4). However, as this quote indicates, many citizens did appear at the event, with a majority being older adults. 

I chose this quote to speak about because it challenges the oft believed stereotype that the majority of older adults are inherently conservative and against any kind of progress. While I see where people are coming from to some extent, I still think that’s an example of ageism. 

Merriam Webster defines ageism as “prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly.” It’s seldom talked about, but just as real as racism and sexism. We hold significantly less value as a society for older adults, and tend to belittle them frequently. One way of doing that is making the leap to say that ‘all old people are cranky conservatives.’ That’s just as harmful as saying ‘all women are too emotional!’

Take a look at this quote, for example. In an area known for conservatism, being mostly white and Republican, we still saw a majority of older adults going to listen to Stacey Abrams. Some even signed up to join her campaign. As further evidence, I recently attended the Women’s March in Portland, ME, where I also saw a good number of older adults marching for equality and justice. Look, too, at one of the Democratic candidates for the 2020 election: Burnie Sanders. He firmly supports social issues such as gun control and reproductive rights, and also happens to be 78 years old. With all of this in mind, I don’t feel comfortable joking about ‘Boomers,’ and I’m not any less appalled to hear statements like, ‘if all these old guys would just die off we could finally get things done.’ 

I will admit that we do see a large number of older, white men among the Republican party, which tends to lean more conservative. I will also note that, coming from Mississippi, I have come across many older people who speak quite plainly about why Trump is amazing and how grossly liberal our country has become. And I have spoken at length in my classes about white backlash and how it can impede progress. Therefore, it’s not my intent to say those people don’t exist or that I don’t have my own issues with them. I simply don’t believe it’s right to claim their age is the only reason for their beliefs.  All people are multi-dimensional, and I would encourage others to examine factors such as place of residence or religious affiliation before making any quick judgements.

There’s this saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ that often gets applied to older adults. People joke they are just too set in their ways and that there’s no hope of them being persuaded to change opinions, and by that logic they write off an entire group. Personal experiences with specific older adults also might lead to this line of thinking. Whatever the reason, though, we need to remember that all people deserve to be treated equally. I more than agree with Abrams’s point during her speech last week that, while a person’s identity does matter, that shouldn’t be the end of who they are. 

Question:

How might political polarization increase prejudice?

Class Discussion and Impact:

While I didn’t get the chance to share my QCQ with the class, I still learned quite a bit. For example, I enjoyed our breakdown discussion about gerrymandering, as I was never clear on what it was and how it really can affect elections. I didn’t know that Maine is only partially democratic but for the most part open to either side in terms of voting. In hindsight this explains why I had encountered so many Republican/right-leaning classmates in high school. I also appreciated the reminder that language is important in terms of legislation/policy, as it really can sway people to a certain direction easily. This actually came up in a reading of mine for my policy advocacy class, so I was glad to see non-political and non-social work students highlight this.