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GOP vs GenZ

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Dan Cooper
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Brat; Cap; DEI-hire: These are some terms you are hearing in this week's news reports. Some are from members of what used to be called the Grand Old Party, in descriptions of Kamala Harris. Used by the GOP, they are exercises in futility from the radical right. Today's Republicans have no idea how to talk about the Vice President of the United States.

Generations tend to shape their spoken language with specific new words, or brand new meanings for established words. GenZ is no exception to this imagined rule. For example, "Everything Trump says is cap." No, this is not just a typographical error, omitting that second letter R. In this example of Z-speak, "cap" is a noun, meaning "a lie". That shoe does seem to be a good fit.

It seems as if Gen-Z is highly motivated to share in their newfound excitement for politics now that one of the very old men has bowed out of the presidential race, and endorsed the far more youthful Kamala Harris. Harris will actually turn 60 in October, but we will gladly take Gen-Z's political excitement despite Harris being more than three decades older than Gen-Z voters.

Republicans have been caught flat-footed with the change from Biden to Harris. They are attempting to insult and accuse, as usual. But some of the intended insults have only served to further excite the interest of very young voters, in support of Harris. One such intended insult was to refer to her as basically, nothing but "a DEI hire." Well, that's not Gen-Z speak. That's terminology intended to disrespect and vilify people of color, and others, who have been identified as "diversity hires". This thinly veiled racism attacks people labeled as those taking advantage of opportunities they "don't otherwise deserve", just because they are found to be "diversity, equity, and/or inclusion" eligible. In other words, hired ONLY BECAUSE of some racial or other "disadvantage". You know, so people of color can "take" white people's jobs. Several particularly racist members of the GOP have recently vilified Harris as just "a DEI-hire". Never mind her actual qualifications. While you are at it, also never mind the fact that she was not "hired" into any of her recent positions, such as Vice President of the United States. After spending time as a prosecuting attorney, she was VOTED into the role of District Attorney of San Francisco, beating the incumbent in a run-off election. In 2010 she successfully ran for Attorney General of California. She was elected, not "hired". And again, she was elected, not hired, to her current role as VP. The intended insult, calling her nothing but a DEI hire, has backfired magnificently, since Gen-Z has picked up on it, as well as other intended insults, and used them to further fuel their newfound excitement in politics. CNN host and contributor Van Jones has added his voice in condemnation of the GOP's blatant racism. On air, he said that not just black women, but black men are miffed. He said something to the effect that we (black men) sat out the reaction to attacks on Hillary Clinton, but we won't sit out this one. If this (racism) lasts another couple of days, you'd better be ready for a landslide loss. We will "defend the sister".

An example of the GOP's language confusion is the "coconut tree" remark. In her youth, Harris was told something by her mother. It went something like this. "Do you think you have just fallen out of a coconut tree?" This could be construed as a racial insult, which, of course, is exactly how those on the radical right have interpreted it. So by their thinking, they can now label Harris and her family as examples of ugly racism. Never mind that these so-called conservatives actually embrace racism, themselves. Witness all those DEI-hire remarks, sometimes even delivered with an ugly snarl.

The GOP picked up on another of the GenZ remarks, and foolishly tried to run with it. The comment was that Harris is brat. No, that's not an intended insult. That is a GenZ-speak noun, for an iconic embrace of authenticity and self-confidence. The GOP preferred to think of it as an insult, which is apparently their preferred mode of conversation, especially when desperately searching for ways to insult Kamala Harris.

Another of the media talking heads remarked that the GOP is in real trouble finding a substitute with which they can veer away from the racism. It is "the only club in their [golf] bag". This election is going to be great to watch. All that excitement of GenZ in the voting booths, and all of that squirming by the GOP, are already becoming a real hoot of a good time. Thank you, GenZ. Thank you, Kamala. And especially, thank you, Joe.

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Dan Cooper is an award winning freelance writer/editor living in the Texas Hill Country. He has worked in news and sports journalism and is currently working on several projects, including a memoir and the editing of a California Gold Rush (more...)
 

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