Well Stacy to answer our question I believe that idealism and naivete can apply to anyone of any age group young or old. I believe people of the younger and older generations can be both of these things at times. In terms of the younger generation or people of your age group, being idealistic is a great thing that can have a profound effect on society by making changes for the better. We need idealists so we don't lose sight of how things could be. We need to aim high and strive for change.
I also think it can be just as harmful when a person is so idealistic that they are blinded by their ideals and view the world from an unrealistic standpoint completely ignoring the empirical observations of the world. Empirical meaning knowledge gained from observation, experiment, or experience.
Some things don't change as easily especially when it comes to basic human nature. This is not to say that basic human nature can not change and hasn't but it is a process which is longer rather than shorter. Racism is less overt and more covert in American society today because it is less acceptable in the eyes of the law and the court of public opinion. That does not mean that suddenly in the course of Obama being elected that the divide between minorities and whites in terms of wealth and assests has grown smaller when all the evidence to the contrary is out there.
In my honest opinion as a black person is that I get very upset when anyone young or old who does not have black friends and family, who live in areas which are predominately white, who haven't experienced abstract poverty or have a formative basis due to observation or experience draw conclusions about the nature of racism based on what they read or are taught in school systems as a result marginalizing the experience of minorities in America in a context which revolves around current times. This is not progress this is one step forward one step back.
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