19. A Moral Panic Over Youth Fashion Led to a Racist Riot
“Kids these days” is a complaint that has been around for ages. Indeed, few things are as predictable as older generations getting into a snit about the mannerisms, morals, and supposed softness of the young. Take this gem from the past: “Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt…” It appeared in a 1771 edition of Town and Country Magazine.
One can go back further, to the first century BC, when Horace complained that: “The beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money“. Or go back even further, to Aristotle in the fourth century BC, when he wrote: “[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. … They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it“. Few snits against the young, however, have resulted in widespread rioting like that caused by the moral panic, below.
