The Invisible Black Gen-Xer

The current generational war not only erases Gen-Xers but Black ones as well

Vena Moore
The Land of the Forgotten

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Photo by David Paschke on Unsplash

Recently, there has been a lot of chatter about the “Ok Boomer” viral meme that originated on social media.

For the uninitiated, it’s a dismissive term used by kids (mostly Gen-Z but Millennials are in the mix as well) to denote an older person, usually a Baby Boomer, who they deem to be out of touch. It’s sparking debate over the generational gap and how relationships between different age groups can be improved. However, they forget to mention one of them. Mine. Which is Gen-X.

Millennials have been targeted in the media over the last decade or so and have been blamed for everything to the fall of the strip mall to increased childlessness to the decrease in marriage rates. Upon their increase in status in the media, Generation X has largely been ignored.

To some extent, it makes sense. In demographics alone, my generation has fewer people than the one preceding it (Baby Boomers) and the one that came after it (Millennials). We’re the middle, neglected stepchild.

However, if you’re a Black Gen-Xer as I am, none of this fazes you. Black people, in general, are used to being ignored and hypervisible, sometimes at once. Many of the alleged traits of my generation (or any…

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