The “Okay, Boomer” mindset might be a joke, but it’s actually ignorant. To laugh at those who came before us, and set the foundation for the world we live in, does nothing but show that we are too immature to understand what they really went through. 

I’ve grown up with three different generations and have spent many hours sitting around a dining room table listening to their life stories. 

In those moments, I began to understand the fact that history is personal. From a young age I learned that my grandma had to fight tooth and nail to make any progress as a woman. I always knew that my parents lived in a much different world than I could ever think of.  

I also know that I’m not the only one out there. Family history is not something to be blown off by a hashtag or an eyeroll. Ultimately there will be one day that those stories are all we have to hang on to. When people decide that an entire generation is worth ignoring just because of the path they left, is to ignore mistakes we can correct. Do I agree with everything the Boomer generation stood for? No, but do I respect why they hold those views when looking at what they went through? Always. 

There has always been a way for generations to deal with one another, phrases like “boomer,” “Hippie” or “Millennial,” it’s a story that has stood the test of time. A rebellious child and a very proper parent. But when “Okay, Boomer” comes around, it seems as if this generation doesn’t remember how the story always ends. We’ll get around to the fact that they weren’t always wrong. 

Think about saying “Okay, Boomer” to the women who marched for the right to vote, people who fought on foreign grounds to secure national security, multiple times. 

These boomers are the great grandchildren and grandchildren of those in our textbook. All of this is a fad that has a harmful effect on how history will see our generation.

To look at the cold hard facts, they have their mistakes, but millennials tried to ingest laundry detergent, took it as a challenge to swallow spoonfuls of cinnamon and nearly choked
to death. 

What ground do we have to stand on that we are any kind of superior over the boomers? I know that we might understand the world differently from a social aspect, civil rights issues, the environment crisis and a number of different things. But think about it—they lived through the threat of nuclear war, a number of bloody events that changed the course of history, they were raised by children who grew up in World War II. 

All of us coming of age in this decade grew up learning about 9/11 and the war in Iraq, a number of public shootings, but also the legalization of gay marriage and a number of advancements in medicine. 

One might say there are more commonalities to find than differences. At one point or another, they were saying similar things about their Great Depression Era parents.

It is all too easy in our current climate to find scapegoats of each other as these generations come to many points of tension. But among all of this, can’t we be proud of each other for what progress has been made? 

If this mindset continues, millennials and generations thereafter who choose to join in are partaking in a dangerous dark side of history. Those who will understand what really hides behind this phrase will shake their heads and curse us as ignorant and uneducated.

I know that as many times as I’ve found mistakes in my elders
actions, I also know all too well, that I am the next one to carry the torch. One that was lit long before I was ever even an idea.