Apparently the National African American Gun Association is thriving. Wayne is out of touch with younger shooters (and by younger, at this point, I mean anyone under 50), and he’s bitterly clinging to his EVP role despite the fact that he’s a few months away from becoming a septuagenarian. So I’m going to be a lot more supportive of groups that are reaching gun owners the NRA has no ability or even interest in reaching. Like African American shooters, or, you know, younger shooters.
Speaking of younger shooters…. I feel like Chris Cox and his inner circle got the typical Gen X treatment. It’s the curse of our generation. Gen Xers are utterly powerless: sandwiched between the much larger Boomer and Millennial cohorts. We’ll never be in charge of anything. The Boomers are going to pass that shit right to the Millennials, then spend their twilight years posting memes on Facebook about how they’re ruining the country.
So good on NAAGA. I hope they continue to grow.
As someone from “generation jones” … that tiny sub-generation between the boomers and the Xers … I have no pity … ;-)
I’m just tired of everyone under age 30 being called a millenial. The youngest millenial is 23, the oldest 38 (depending on the years you choose). And they all learned to write in cursive.
And my one of my father’s (on the cusp of Boomer, attitude Boomer) rationales for buying me (solidly GenX) a stickshift was that most of my classmates and friends wouldn’t be able to drive it. In the late nineties. In the NoVA area.
(I mean, some could, but most couldn’t)
Maj Toure is the founder of Black Guns Matter, he is running for Philadephia City Council and he gave up his NRA membership.
Q: So you’re an NRA member, do you—
A: No, I am not. I am no longer an NRA member. I don’t fuck with the NRA. They’re not doing what they say they’re going to do. I don’t see them doing the work in urban America like we are. They say they want to. I just see them taking cool pictures. When I see some genuine changes in that direction, not just hiring a person that happens to be black, then I’ll switch again.
https://breakermag.com/black-guns-matter-founder-maj-toure-on-quitting-the-nra-and-chopping-it-up-with-the-trumps/
I think that chronological boundaries to define “generations” are meaningless. If it were possible I’d suggest a quantification of “attitudes” (perhaps measured by polls) and I’m sort of envisioning the result being a bell-like curve with a generation defined by the “peak” and its extent defined by standard deviations. That would be complicated by, that some “old” attitudes never would recover.
For example, I’m slightly too old to be a Baby Boomer. But “generationally” I am clearly not Greatest Generation. Those were my parents, both by the calendar and by shared experience.
Speaking of “shared experience”, I’m not even sure a generation can be defined by anything other than the “upheavals” (for want of a better word) that it has shared in its formative years. For example, my Baby Boomer generation might be thought defined by the shared experiences of the Civil Rights and Vietnam Eras; though in fact the people I remember embracing “Civil Rights” (either to support or resist what was called that) were several years older than me, born either during WWII or a few years before that war.
To me — the certainty of experience — the Vietnam Era seems to be the definer of the early half of the Baby Boom generation. Almost all of our lives and early-life decisions were perturbed by it in some way, then the remnants of the Greatest Generation tried to define for us, what our experience had been.
I can’t think of what “upheavals” GenX or Millennials have experienced. Perhaps that’s why we’re reduced to defining them in terms of changing technologies, as influences to their early years and attitudes.
Generational theory is like any generalization: not universally applicable to everybody and only really useful for drawing broad conclusions. But I do think shared experiences people in certain age groups matters. Vietnam doesn’t mean much to my generation, other than something some of our fathers fought in. Similarly, the Gen Z, or whatever we’re calling them these days, aren’t going to find any meaning in 9/11 because they were babies or not yet born when it happened. So I think it’s somewhat valid. But it is a generalization.
I’m concerned that they may fall apart once the panic over Trump eventually fizzles out. We can hope they will retain the understanding of keeping arms after the paranoia is gone, but we’ll see.
Nah. Just send em over here, where the panic stays alive(TM)!
“I’m concerned that they may fall apart once the panic over Trump eventually fizzles out.”
I worry more about their legitimacy as a gun rights organization in the first place, as odds are they are a front for something else. I admit I find no evidence yet that NAAGA isn’t on the level, but what is visible publicly is minimal. On the other hand, Maj Toure with his Black Guns Matter looks like a garden variety example of someone taking advantage of “Black Conservative” being a growth industry where no particular skill is required for success. You’d have to be white to be fooled by him, though.
I met Maj Toure some time ago. He recognizes the insanity of the anti-gunner position, especially vis-a-vi the black community. He is good for the moment and immune to many of the typical attacks used.
I am wait for the concerted attack from the national press if/when the cannot ignore him any more. I will be interesting to see what happens if he wins the council seat.