I don’t know if you’ve heard, but it has become a big conspiracy theory among teens in Tiktok the idea that Helen Keller was fraud that didn’t exist, and the main argument to back this is “how could someone be both blind and deaf and still be successful and write books”. That’s plain ableism. This entire thing is just deeply ableist and the fact that an ableist conspiracy theory like this can spread so easily among kids is just scary.
Conspiracy theories, misinformation, fake news and bigotry are not a generational thing! It’s not a “boomer” thing, this is something that happens among all generations.
Reading this medium article made me lose my mind at how generational politics are truly rooting people’s brains:
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It’s gotten to the point where it isn’t even a joke anymore as it originally may have been. Generation Z literally does not believe Helen Keller existed. And frankly, I’m having a hard time accepting that she did myself.
I don’t feel bad or wrong for it, and I don’t think anyone else my age does either. But older generations seem to think differently. “Helen Keller overcame many obstacles, and she’s a great inspiration,” my mother said in an attempt to reason with me. She failed to invalidate my disbelief.
Does it stem from our own insecurities — could it be that a blind, deaf woman with more success in life than all of us is too much to grasp? Possibly.
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Boomers and Generation X love to chirp on the younger ones, quoting the adage, “don’t believe everything you read online,” but we’re the ones who have the most trust issues when it comes to news.
We have to fight to have our opinions about the state of our country heard and understood by older generations.
We have to march in the streets and endlessly retweet to try and stop our schools from being shot up.
We have to hear about the injustices committed at the border, against the black community, and against women, all of which are covered in lies that sugarcoat the situation, and you wonder why we have trust issues when it comes to the government.
We don’t have to believe in Helen Keller, and it shouldn’t be surprising if we don’t. The world we were born into makes us profoundly different than other generations, and hopefully, it will also make us into change agents.
This person is trying to paint as a quirky Gen Z thing not believing that someone could be blind and dead and more successful than her, then acting like being Gen Z makes you inherently progressive, bro what is wrong with people.
honestly if u have any teens/gen z ppl in your life, esp if they’re loved ones, like….please ask them about it (and discuss ableism).
also besides there being literal footage on youtube of helen keller (she only passed away in the 1960s), there was also a documentary released this year about her socialist politics and advocacy
https://fishnetcinema.com/2020/10/05/nyff-review-her-socialist-smile/