The next 'ism' battle - Ageism

Fellow Americans, we have a daunting task in front of us. I’m not talking about the  sorry state of the economy or the slow mudslide oozing from the halls of Congress. I’m talking about something much closer to heart and home for Baby Boomers and beyond – our own self-esteem.

In doing some research for a talk I’ll give soon at the Eskaton Foundation’s annual breakfast, I ran across a startling concept. We are the victims of our own lifelong attitudes toward aging – and those preconceptions are anything but positive. Just consider the vernacular that surrounds older Americans – geezer, old fart, biddy, codger, blue hair – you get the picture. Now, most of us wouldn’t think of using similar epithets in reference to a race, religion or sexual preference. But, when it comes to the elders in our culture the PC filter is missing.

Think about this: If you are black, you’ll never be white or Asian or Indian. If you are male (barring a surgical procedure) you’ll not ever be a woman. But, whether man or woman and despite what race you are, do you aspire to be a healthy 85 or 90 years old? Or would you prefer to die young and unmarred by time in the prime of life and at your physical peak? Pretty clear choice for most of us! The one thing humanity has in common is the hope that one day we will all enter the ranks of the elder generation.

Thus, we must ask why we spend at least half our lives disparaging those beyond middle age and accepting stereotypes of what it means to age. I think the reason is, in part, that America has yet to wake up to this last bastion of prejudice. It’s been socially okay to make wholesale assumptions about the state of our elders and hang on to sweeping generalities that don’t hold up under close scrutiny: older people lose mental capacity with advancing age; they are slow to react; crappy drivers; have bad dispositions; can’t count change in a grocery line; don’t use technology; collect and hoard small objects; are nearly deaf and most certainly incapable of complex thought or original creation.

These are subconscious beliefs  we carry as we move through life into our own old age. Why then should we be proud to enter the realm of the elders? If we are to make the most of our advanced years, wouldn’t it be better to arrive there armed with optimism and plans for how to enjoy the treasure of riches we’ve accumulated over the years? The wisdom, experience, education, self-determination and dreams we have yet to realize?



Poet Laureate Silverstein is featured in Bee story

The Sacramento Bee’s Anita Creamer wrote about one such 80-year-old woman - an activist poet Laureate who recently joined a blue grass band. Or, consider Fred Harrold, 80-some year-old retired business leader who is a dedicated volunteer with hospice services and serves on the U.C. Davis Mini Med School Advisory Board that supports positive, healthy aging. There are millions of older Americans like these two. They represent the ever growing number of elders who defy stereotyping and provide new role models for aging in America.

I think it’s time for those of us who fueled the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s to once again stand up and be heard. Ageism must go the way of racism, sexism and religious intolerance. We won’t march in the streets anytime soon, but we can speak up when spoken down to and we can make our voices heard above the din of misconceptions. Let’s talk about, write about and adopt a new attitude that retires ageism and makes way for a new reality - optimistic and honored elders in America.