To my grandchildren and future generations, I offer my abject and absolute apology.
In our youth, my generation was idealistic and hopeful of a better tomorrow, as are most young people. We turned that idealism into action. Our protests and demonstrations were significant in ending America’s involvement in Vietnam’s civil war, which was not our fight in the first place.
We supported Martin Luther King and others as they led the struggle to gain civil rights for all Americans, especially black Americans, who had been denied those rights for so long.
For some, our idealism and vigilance have dwindled as we have aged. Some seem to have forgotten our past, become complacent in the present and allowed a murky future to take hold.
Actions in the White House and the United States Senate would have been repugnant and unthinkable just four short years ago. Our hope for regaining our national integrity and stature as a beacon of hope and freedom is today’s youth.
You, young Americans, are equal to the task. Please listen to your best inner selves, and then follow where that leads.
Julene E. Fisher, West Valley City
