On January 20, 2009,
a record number of
nearly two million
people personally
witnessed the
inauguration of Barack
Obama as the 44th
president of the United
States. Many, if not
most of them, were in
their teens and
twenties. Members of the
Millennial Generation
(born 1982-2003) had
come to Washington to
celebrate Obama's
election -- a victory
their participation had
clearly made possible.
Last night, on May 1,
2011, thousands of
Millennials once again
gathered in instant
"flash mobs" in front of
the White House, and in
other urban centers, to
celebrate the death of
the person whose
murderous actions
forever shaped their
lives. In authorizing
the successful operation
to take out bin Laden,
President Obama redeemed
the faith the generation
had placed in his
leadership.
The attacks of
September 11, 2001
occurred when most
Millennials were in
school and it remains
the moment most remember
as the day they realized
the dangers of the world
around them. Safety and
security concerns became
a permanent part of
their lives. Their
parents created "play
dates" as a way to make
sure they were never out
of sight of an adult as
they grew up and
demanded more and more
legislated protections
for their safety. Cell
phones became a safety
tool to assure
continuous knowledge of
their children's
whereabouts, "in case,
God forbid, something
should happen to them."
But this generation,
like the previous
civic-minded G.I.
Generation that it is
most similar to, did not
shirk from the
challenges this new
world of "homeland
security" presented.
Volunteer service became
the norm of the
Millennials' school day.
Interest in how their
government worked and
who was leading it
soared. Millennials, who
experienced 9/11 while
in high school, became
energized, involved
voters when they
graduated. And the valor
of those who volunteered
for military service was
indelibly inscribed in
American history books
as a result of
yesterday's operation.
One of those
activists, Matt Segal,
President of
OurTime,
a national Millennial
membership organization,
described the central
place the man, whose
killing all Americans
celebrated, has held in
the generation's
imagination. "We've
grown up with Osama bin
Laden as the defining
villain, the central
antagonist of our
generation."
While the
youthfulness of the
spontaneous celebrations
last night surprised
some observers, every
Millennial has lived
with the looming
presence of bin Laden as
a continuing reminder
that the work of the
generation in fixing the
world had not yet
achieved its first goal
in much the same way
that their G.I.
Generation
great-grandparents must
have felt about Hitler
nearly seven decades
ago.
Segal also made it
clear why his generation
was so ready to
celebrate the news of
bin Laden's death. "Our
generation finally gets
to see what progress
looks like, what it
feels like when American
persistence actually
leads to results."
Rather than being a
surprise, the
generation's late
night partying to shouts
of "USA!" and exuberant
flag waving, should be a
signal to Americans of
all ages that this
generation has just
begun the task of
remaking the country in
its image. With bin
Laden out of the way,
it's time to let
Millennials lead the way
in tackling all the
challenges that continue
to confront America's
civic consciousness.
