Elder Respect

Elder Respect

There used to be a time, especially in the African American community when elders were held in high esteem.  Parents taught their children to respect older adults and those in positions of authority. Now it is not uncommon for young people to use profanity, assault and generally disrespect their elders.  Just recently standing in line in a store with just one line I looked as the cashier opened up another register.  Young people in the back of the line rushed to the front of the newly opened line totally disregarding the number of senior citizens in line in front of them. I know that there are still some parents that teach their children to respect their elders.  I see comedians on television joking about older adults.  News flash-if young people continue living, they will also grow old.  I recently observed two young people aggressively cursing older adults when asked to generally follow rules in the community.  They knew they were wrong and when called on their disregard for rules they cursed the older adults so vehemently and were so aggressive that law enforcement was called by a bystander.  What happened to our community, and when and how did we go astray? It hurts my heart to see our young people walking around with pants so low that their underwear is exposed.  This in itself is disrespectful.  Private undergarments are meant to be seen by the individual wearing the undergarments. They curse and get extremely vile in many of the songs and continually disrespect women. I see young women in short, tight clothes that leave nothing to the imagination.  I see women refer to each other as “bitch”.  Maybe I’m old school but I will continue to respect both the young and the old.  How can we thrive and grow as a community when we have no respect for each other? Let’s start by again holding our elders in reverence. If we do this, I feel we can again become a community of proud, self-respecting people. Thumbs up, like, and share.

Marvin Dixon, Founder

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