In my college diversity class, one of the things that we learned about was generational differences. It was one of the most interesting class periods of the semester. We broke down and analyzed the Veteran Generation (born between 1921 and 1943) the Boomer Generation (born between 1944 and 1961) the GenXers (born between 1962 and 1980) and the Millennials (aka Nexters, aka Generation Y - born between 1981 and 2000). It is important to note that we talked in generalities and one size does not fit all in a given generation (the same is true when dealing with religion, race, gender, etc.).

The thing in the class that intrigued me most was how the Gen Xers - in comparison to other generations - don't have heroes. None.


Veteran heroes were heroes molded by World War II and the Great Depression - Patton, Audie Murphy - . Gen Xers could have gone that route, that is if Vietnam hadn't been such a massive failure of foreign policy.

GenXer parent's (Boomers) heroes tended to be idealistic world leaders - JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and the ilk -Gen Xers?- Come on! This is the generation that started coming of age in the mid 1970s. Watergate, Iran Contra, all the way up to Clinton and the infamous blue dress, scandal after scandal after scandal. Speckled into a grouping of generally untrustworthy politicians were Ford, and Carter. Both may have been options if Ford hadn't pardoned his predecessor and if Carter hadn't been too nice to be effective.

The Millennials - the generation after GenXers have gone a strange direction when it comes to their heroes. The generation that is about achievement have as hero figures like Michael Jordan and Bill Gates - self-made billionaires and those who achieved great things in sports and media. The GenXers had a chance in the world outside of politics and war. Why not John Lennon? A former Beatle who gave up a successful solo career for a number of years to focus on Yoko and Sean, he seems to exemplify much of what GenX stood for - balance in work and play. Lennon - shot dead the last year of Gen Xers being born. As a last gasp at a hero, maybe Gen Xers could have had as a hero the rock star that was the anti-rock star. Give up Kurt Cobain - collapsed under the weight of his own celebrity (not to mention a serious Heroin addiction) and killed himself when GenXers were between the ages of 14 and 32.

So where does that leave GenXers? Do heroes matter? I'm not sure... I'm a cusp species, stretched between GenX and the Millenials, apparently my heroes are super-achievers and/or nonexistent. Still trying to figure out what category heroic teachers, parents, and pastors fit in.