{"id":67829,"date":"2015-07-09T15:23:09","date_gmt":"2015-07-09T15:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/?page_id=67829"},"modified":"2015-07-10T16:04:20","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T16:04:20","slug":"obama-blames-charleston-shooting-on-young-people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/?page_id=67829","title":{"rendered":"Obama blames Charleston shooting on \u201cyoung people.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barack Obama and Bill Clinton may rank among the smartest presidents, but they sound like primitive reactionaries on youth. Continuing his administration\u2019s ugly campaign to blame the young for all social problems \u2013 mass shootings, gun violence, crime, rape, drug abuse, bullying, obesity, racism, betraying America\u2019s ideals, etc. \u2013 Obama again singled out \u201cyoung people\u201d<\/a> as responsible for the Charleston tragedy. \u201cWhen it’s (racism\u2019s) poisoning the minds of young people, it betrays our ideals and tears our democracy apart,\u201d the president told the US Conference of mayors.<\/p>\n

Imagine the volcanic reaction if the president had blamed \u201cracism poisoning the minds of white people\u201d or \u201cmen\u201d for Charleston \u2013 after all, nearly all mass shooters (racist and otherwise) have been white, and all have been men. But the larger, elementary point this president should understand is that \u201cyoung people\u201d did not commit Charleston\u2019s and other violence \u2013 it was a tiny number of individuals of all ages<\/a>, not entire demographic groups, who are responsible. If you look at larger characteristics<\/a> that define young people, it is unusually anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-homophobic, anti-xenophobic attitudes compared to older ages.<\/p>\n

It is the president himself who is displaying crude bigotry in his continual efforts to demean the very young people to whom he owes his political success. Meanwhile, the Obama presidency has not addressed (in fact, rarely mentions) the two most critical issues facing young people \u2013 widespread poverty and destitution, and domestic violence victimizing children and teenagers. If you wonder why Democrats and liberals don\u2019t enjoy the same intense loyalty from their base constituencies that right-wing Republicans do, look no further than the last two Democratic presidents\u2019 incessant youth bashing.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Is It All Right to Blame All Teenagers for Rape?<\/a><\/strong>
The guilty verdicts are in, the outraged commentary is abating, but a big question remains: How did Steubenville\u2019s rape case become the one that \u201cstunned the nation\u201d and won relentless national media coverage?<\/p>\n

\n
A Modern History of Youth Bashing \u2013 with Mike Males April 27, 2013<\/a><\/strong>
\nAuthor, sociologist and outspoken youth advocate Mike Males joins me share his insights on the social, political and cultural problem of blaming, shaming and framing youth. I have referenced his work several times in the past, and it was a pleasure to have him on the show.
\nTo hear the podcast, click here: http:\/\/schoolsucksproject.com\/212-a-modern-history-of-youth-bashing-with-mike-males\/<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Barack Obama and Bill Clinton may rank among the smartest presidents, but they sound like primitive reactionaries on youth. Continuing his administration\u2019s ugly campaign to blame the young for all social problems \u2013 mass shootings, gun violence, crime, rape, drug abuse, bullying, obesity, racism, betraying America\u2019s ideals, etc. \u2013 Obama again singled out \u201cyoung people\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-67829","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67829"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68419,"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/67829\/revisions\/68419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.youthfacts.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}