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Generation of Peacemakers
"When I’m old and grey, my granddaughter should sit with me in a rocking chair and ask about the great achievements of my generation..."
By Allison McWaters
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Youth Radio's Allison McWaters thinks our country is led by stubborn politicians who promote too much violence and war. Allison hopes tommorow's young people will not only learn about the "War Against Terror" as a defining marker of our time, but also learn about how people worked together for peace. She wants, "To break from the legacy of my elders. I don’t want war to define my generation the way it defined my parent’s generation."
Did you know that some history books already tell about September 11th and America’s reaction? It makes me wonder how history books will view my generation. With all the conflicts around the world, I have no doubt the future textbooks will describe my teenage years as the beginning of the war on terror.
The stubbornness of present world powers and their unwillingness to bend has brought the U.S. to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. During the cold war the U.S. was fighting the ideology of communism. We’re still fighting an ideology but now it’s against radical Islam, whose practitioners we so often dub as terrorists. Like the cold war, the war on terror looks as if it might drag on for a long time.
I want to break from the legacy of my elders. I don’t want war to define my generation the way it defined my parent’s generation. I don’t want people to look back on this period of time and think of it as a disaster in worldwide politics, and I don’t want my generation to be marked by the war on terror.
When I’m old and grey, my granddaughter should sit with me in a rocking chair and ask about the great achievements of my generation, not why we fought so often with countries of different believes and incomes. I guess this is a plea to stop unnecessary fighting and to bring back the peacemakers. I want my generation to be remembered as ground-breaking humanitarians and not wagers of our parents’ war.
- This commentary was produced by Youth Radio and VOX newspaper in Atlanta.
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