In retrospect, the genuine opportunity we boomers had was to fashion our own solutions, but not to the problems our parents laid on us. We came of age in the turmoil of desegregation and the military draft, and the most we could do was express our moral outrage at the injustices we were confronted with.

But the dilemmas that our grandparents laid on our parents was where we could really make our mark. The sexual hypocrisy that demanded marriage before sex was one of the first taboos we demolished. Interracial marriage was next, followed quickly by our generation’s rejection of the “double standard” that branded women as either virgins or whores. We called it the “sexual revolution”, and it led directly to the second wave of feminism in the 70’s.

The generation that followed us boomers came up with their own solution to the problem of racism: hip hop culture, a social movement rooted in Black music that young people from all walks of life could appreciate and participate in. While the nation is still far from achieving a truly level playing field, we are seeing the unprecedented breakthrough of the son of an interracial marriage successfully aspiring to the highest reaches of mainstream society.

The dilemma we now face is the stalemate over gay marriage, the flashpoint of the unresolvable impasse between Christian and egalitarian moral values. We adults are far too close to the issue to do anything more than lobby adamantly for our own side in this fight. It will be up to the next generation to discover a solution of their own.