Personal Power and Youth: They Get It

Since the topics of race, gender and relationship rights-and-wrongs seem to be hot right now, why not continue?

The oh-so-popular-and-wholesome cereal, Cheerios, recently pulled all comments from a commercial on YouTube because the slander got so ridiculous. The issue? A biracial couple with the audacity to procreate. Never mind that the girl in the commercial is adorable and her only concern is her father’s health. And never mind that it’s really only a cereal commercial that actually highlights empathy as a positive childhood trait. It was simply too much for the masses to deal with a blatantly mixed-racial couple.

But here’s the beautiful part. A group of researchers decided to find out what some kids thought of the commercial. Granted all of the kids portrayed in the video obviously were raised with decent levels of empathy and intellect, but let’s pretend they represent a good cross-section of the population.

And let’s pretend that the ugly, dark sides of humanity we’ve seen reflected in the media recently really only serve to highlight the true transformation of our populace. What if, underneath if all, the younger generations truly can’t even comprehend the ridiculous conversations happening?

I’ll take it a step further and pull in some conspiracy theory. What if all this hoopla over race relations, gay marriage, abortion, women’s rights, immigration, etc. is “The Devil” (read shadow archetype, fear, resistance, etc.) saying, “Look over here, look over here.” Because what’s happening beneath the surface is so powerful and profound those who refuse to stomach change can’t even perceive of it?

But the little ones know. Look into the eyes of a youngster given half-a-chance at developing basic humanitarian understanding. Look into the eyes of a youngster already developed in, dare I say, personal POWER. Look into the eyes of a youngster being raised to embrace empathy, emotional intelligence, heart-centeredness, and acceptance/appreciation for all.

Look into the eyes of the children in this video, particularly the one moved to tears toward the end.

And then you tell me if the condemnation of the commercial is really about biracial relationships. I think not. I think it’s a last-ditch effort of desperation aimed at hiding the fact that our youth understand better than we do the magnitude of these transformational times.

I suggest we start listening to them.