Black GenZ and Generational Dissonance
- Masi Kadzai
- Nov 14, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 14
This post was created by a GenZ person who chooses for his identity to be concealed but its an appeal to the generations before him.
Many of the older generation seem to not understand the lack of Genz in the spaces they seem to occupy. Yet if you look deeper into the reality Gen Z lives in, there would be little to be surprised by. The fact of the matter is that Gen Z is raised on and by the Internet. This has led them to rely on it as a means of communication. The internet within itself has allowed Gen Z to connect with each other through a wide web of trends and posts. For many black Gen Z specifically, this is a safe way to communicate and share our black experiences amongst each other without having to worry for our safety, the problem that Gen Z experiences is a lack of places known as third places, these are places outside of work and school in which you can go to without spending money in order to relax and enjoy yourself, similar to parks or clubs or even libraries. Between the massive amounts of over-releasing and gang violence that the black community on average experiences, many have found that simply placing their life online is more practical.
This is made, especially true with older generations' attitudes towards Gen Z generations, has been plague with pressure by the climate crisis, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the war on Ukraine and the series of polarizing presidential elections some within less than half of a decade they feel like they’re under a mince pressure. This pressure is all but heightened by the way, the older generation speaks and treats generation Zs specifically in the case of black generation Zs this feels like a mince pressure to conform to their understanding of what it means to be black and their black experiences. We seem to be expected to hold the mantle of traditions and ideas that we may not necessarily agree with and even worse have a little say in. All the while, facing excruciating amounts of judgment and misunderstanding. This has led many to abandon many of the communal spaces, established by older black generations in fear of being chastised or even worse controlled. Despite this black Gen Zs still manages to build community, it is simply that that community has more of an online presence than previous generations. This allows Gen Z to be more informed about the nuances of the black experience, especially with the introduction of critical race theory.
What they lose is the physical presence of the community, a physical presence that is all but integral for acting on political interest and creating tangible change. This dissonance creates unnecessary division within the black community that we people of color obviously cannot afford, the solution to this problem lies in the older generations' ability to be responsible for the younger generations' way of life and their experiences. Not simply the notion of community, but a community proactive in its effort to understand its own ever-changing nature. A community is willing to hold itself accountable for the way it treats its members. A community is willing to adapt to the needs of its people as those needs arise. A community that does not believe its experience, the black experience, to be so narrow.
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