Monthly Archives: October 2020

After reading and analyzing the articles provided, each article shares a common theme. That theme is the building blocks of how GenZers views the world, their perspectives, observations, and how it intertwines in politics. The first concept that stood out to me was that members of GenZ and Millennials share similar political preferences. For example, according to the Pew Research Center “61% of Gen Z voters (ages 18 to 23) said they were definitely or probably going to vote for the Democratic candidate for president in the 2020 election while Millennial voters…plan to support a Democrat in November than Trump (58% vs. 25%).” I found this concept interesting because I thought Millennials would have different perspectives since they‘re from an older generation compared to the younger generation. Especially because many young voters are discouraged by the public. Another concept that stood out to me was that GenZers are much less likely than previous voters to think the Black Lives Matter protests are too violent. The last concept I found intriguing was Catie’s comment in Kate Bubacz’s article, “I think young people don’t vote because they are constantly being told that their opinions are wrong or that they don’t matter and that older people know better than us.” I totally agree with Catie’s statement because older generations seem to believe their opinion overthrow the younger generation’s opinion and claim they know better.
In addition, these articles prove as a guide to my own sense of who I am and peers because as being part of GenZ, I personally agree with all the controversial topics discussed. For example, “A Pew Research Center survey conducted in January of this year found that about a quarter of registered voters ages 18 to 23 (22%) approved of how Donald Trump is handling his job as president, while about three-quarters disapproved (77%).” I agree with this statement because it is clear that the majority of this generation won’t vote for Donald Trump. If I was interviewed for this article, I wouldn’t add anything because I felt like it captured the essence of GenZers successfully with data.

I was surprised to see that Gen Z republicans are most likely to admit that black people are treated unfair than their other generational counter parts. Furthermore, I am surprised to see that a large amount of Gen Zers are motivated and are moved to make a difference politically. I never focused on the diversity of the generation but to see that it is definitely different than the others is very surprising. I believe that everything I listed previously portraits what Gen Z is and even more. Gen Z is very unorthodox when it comes to life overall. While being direct and upfront with politics and how people aren’t treated equal, the way we can act in general is more outrageous and laid back. Gen Z has a more individualist approach to things and gives more area of freedom and growth for people to do exactly what they want to. We’re ambitious and can be stubborn when we are passionate in what we want and know. If I were to interview these stories I wouldn’t have added or removed anything because the originality and authenticity of how things are perceived would change. I have a overall feeling of reassurance and overall feeling related to. This does not bring out any other strong emotions.

One of the biggest things that stood out from the readings is that Gen Z is very diverse. According to “On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far,” shows statistics over time and how in the new generation, there’s less white people than they had in millennial. We have more Hispanics and Asians than before. “Generation Z represents the leading edge of the country’s changing racial and ethnic makeup. A bare majority (52%) are non-Hispanic white – significantly smaller than the share of Millennials who were non-Hispanic white in 2002 (61%)” This is a significant change. It’s only Gen Z that were able to be more diverse than any other Generations. The second thing that stood out the most is that we are politically active. We have to deal with Silents and Baby Boomer’s consequence of destroying the earth by consuming things. It is due to human actives that there’s a significant change in the climate. We are also Pro Protest, fighting for fundamental human rights. “With the widespread uprising against police brutality, Gen Z is more supportive of protests and protesters, while registered voters are more likely to support the police” (6 Things know about Gen Z politics, and 2020). Even though most of the Gen z are not able to vote, our beliefs differentiate from people who can vote, which becomes a significant disadvantage to us because we cannot vote. But during the 2020 election, More teenagers voted than back in the 2016 election, which shows we are doing whatever we can to get justice for what we believe in. One of the big things that make Gen Z get involved and stay active is social media, these platforms are beneficial to spread information and messages across, and they are a big part of Gen Z’s lives.

As part of Gen Z, I am very active when it comes to politics. It’s essential to keep up with what’s happening to people around us. Getting involved and trying to make changes is one of my biggest goals in life. Something that America is lacking is human rights. We are more woke and less conservative. I believe our generation can make a significant change and go on the correct path instead of ruin lives like the previous generations. The Texts that I read are very much accurate because it’s how we precisely feel. We are leaning more toward the right things. If you’re a Gen Z and support trump, you’re an embarrassment.

One of the three things that stood out from the reading, “Gen Z Voters on the Issues that Matter Most to Them Ahead of the Election,” was a specific statistic mentioned, “Pew Research Center says 1 in 4 Gen Zers in the U.S. is Hispanic.” which stood out to me because I was not aware of that. It is shocking to read that because the numbers are growing, we (the Latino community) can reshape the U.S. with our vote. Secondly, while reading “Gen Z is about to go to the Polls, Many for the First Time. Here’s What They Care About”, a particular opinion from Gen Z’s were that they believe young people don’t vote because they don’t think they can change anything, which I think is a bizarre opinion that occurred in several of their interviews. After all, there is so much information on the web that says otherwise, and many young people are tech-savvy. Last but not least thing that stood out to me from the reading, “Gen Z Rising: 6 Things to Know About Gen Z, Politics, and 2020”, is that surprisingly, there are still Gen Z’s, specifically a quarter of Gen Z’s, out there who would vote for Trump after what he has established during his term, and to me, it is unbelievable which is why this statistic stood out to me.  

I can’t speak for my peers, but after getting to know most of my peers, I believe we are more leaned towards being progressive than conservative. These portraits of Gen Z can only be identified with my sense of who I am to a certain extent. The statistics are not arguable. Some begin with the fact that we are in a pivotal moment of history, and Gen Zs are the youngest people voting in this year’s election, which is true. However, although we are the youngest, we are still well informed, and we aren’t just voting as we see fit but portray our vote for the ones who aren’t able to. This connects to what I would change of these depictions of Gen Z’s, we are young, but we have experienced a lot under this current administration, from the Black Lives Matter movement to the deportation of hundreds of immigrants, and we are not voting on a whim.

Suppose I was interviewed for any of these stories. In that case, I’d stress the importance that I am voting because the U.S. must establish, for lack of better terms, a better immigration system. I feel that many Gen Z’s understand that their vote is essential and that it is our civic duty to vote. I was exhilarated after reading these texts because so many of Gen Z’s are voting to see change and seen that after Trump’s administration, the U.S. is in shambles, which calls upon us to get up and act.  

What stood out to me the most in the first article “on the cusp of adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far” by KIM PARKER AND RUTH IGIELNIK was the statistics stated. According to the article Gen Z is on track and is the most diverse generation due to the country’s changing racial and ethnic makeup. According to the article is states “One-in-four Gen Zers are Hispanic, 14% are black, 6% are Asian and 5% are some other race or two or more races.” This statistic gives us an idea of how much our country is changing and what it’ll look like in the future. In article 3 ” “Gen Z is about to go to the Polls, Many for the First Time.  Here’s What They Care About”” I completely agree with the statement made by photographer Anna Betts “I feel like social media has changed the way that my generation is able to share information.” This statement allies perfectly with Gen Z. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc is all part of our generation. Through social media we’ve been able to stay up to date with what is happening with our world, and what we can do to change a political issue, stop climate change and much more. The last and final thing that stood out to me was in the second article “6 things to know about Gen Z, politics and 2020″ which stated ” First-time voters already face significant barriers to understanding and participating in the electoral process.” I personally disagree with this statement. Many Gen Z are aware about the electoral college how it works, and we are more then ever informed about politics through social media. I believe that Gen Z is more confident about voting than any other generation at our age, we want to see a change with social justice, politics and of course with the pandemic. I wouldn’t change anything that is portrayed about Gen Z except the last statement that I quoted. Everything else seems to be very accurate about my generation.

After hearing and reading the small interview of “Gen Z Voters On The Issues That Most Matter To Them Ahead Of The Election” there were a few notable things. Each of them being the three different people they chose to interview. It was interesting to see how they built upon strong perspectives and opinions. When they first started off with James Butler his viewpoints were rawer while the transition to Manny Cruz was basically the level most of GenZ stands at. However, the transition to Ina Morton certainly took me off guard by her saying she won’t vote. Personally knowing myself and other GenZ around me, the first two were pretty accurate but I have never met another GenZ personally say they won’t be voting. With all the tension now I find GenZ working their hardest to get people to vote with the huge influence they have on social media. If I were to be interviewed my position would have been the same as Manny Cruz and that our voices are going to be used.