The Grey Panthers

Summary

The Gray Panthers is an organization looking to free the old and young by changing the cruel, unfair, and immoral stereotypes against both groups in America. Operating on their motto “Age and Youth in Action”, the Gray Panthers looks to unite the elderly with the young to fight for social and economic equality. The Gray Panthers seek to demolish the label already placed on the old and young as being less significant members of society. The Gray Panthers also promote awareness towards “universal health care; jobs with a living wage and the right to organize; the preservation of Social Security; affordable housing; access to quality education; economic justice; environment; peace; and challenging ageism, sexism, and racism”. For more than 30 years, the Gray Panthers have continued to encourage change based on the beliefs of social equality.

Origin:

In 1950, Maggie Kuhn agreed to take an executive job with the United Presbyterian Church, where she edited a journal called Social Progress that supported equality regardless of gender, race, or age. 20 years later, at the age of 65, Maggie Kuhn was asked to retire. Disgusted with the “immoral waste of precious human resources” and retirement laws that “automatically scrap-pile people just like old automobiles”, Maggie Kuhn and five friends created the Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change, which was later named the Gray Panthers, a name similar to that of the Black Panthers. The Gray Panthers grew from a group of six friends to a mob of 100 members, who attended the Gray Panther’s first public meeting. Both young and old were brought together while dealing with issues surrounding the mistreatment of individuals due to age, race, or sex.

Chronology:

1970

• The Presbyterian Church forces Maggie Kuhn to retire because she turns 65.

• Enraged by her terminated employment, Maggie Kuhn forms the Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change, which is the frame work for the Gray Panther Organization.

1972

• The Consultation of Older and Younger Adults for Social Change changes its name to the Gray Panther organization on the advice of a New York editor, who claims the new name though controversial will rally people to the cause.

1973

• The Gray Panthers expand exponentially and begin chapters in major cities such as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

• The Gray Panthers increase influence by combining with Ralph Nader’s Retired Professional Action Group and creating a Headquarters in Philadelphia, where Maggie Kuhn lived and had worked.

1975

• The Grey Panthers had their first national convention, where they announced their principles and beliefs to the country.

1978

• The Grey Panthers first demonstrate the extent of their influence by helping bring about the 1978 Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which rouse the retirement age from 65 to 70.

1995

• On April 1, 1995, the city of Philadelphia offically declared April 1 "Maggie Kuhn Day" to celebrate the 25th aniversery of the Gray Panthers.

• On April 22, 1995, Gray Panther founder Maggie Kuhn passed away after years of ill-health. The Gray Panthers, which orginally consisted of Maggie and five of her friends, had over 40,000 members of all ages in over thirty-two states at the time of her death.

   As of August 2008, the Gray Panthers continue to purse their fight against Ageism and violence.

Founder:

Unlike many organizations, the catalyst for the Grey Panthers was not a group of individuals, but one disgruntled woman. Maggie Kuhn, born in 1905, was college educated at Western Reserve University and entered the working world at a young age. She initially worked for the YWCA in Philadelphia, but spent the bulk of her career working in several positions for the Presbyterian Church. Because she was an activist her entire career, in 1969 she was chosen to be the executive for the Council on Church and Race. A year later, she was forced to retire. Disgruntled by her forced retirement, she began to lay the foundation of the Grey Panthers. She believed in an organization that fought Ageism, the tendency of people to disregard older members of society as unsuitable for employment, because as she stated not allowing old people capable of work to remain employed was an “immoral waste of precious human resources.” She believed that the organization must be “a coalition of both young and old people, because everyone of us is getting old.” The more controversial focus of Maggie Kuhn was portraying older individuals as no different than the youth, especially in terms of sexuality. As Kuhn once stated, on the topic of a controversial film, I loved what it showed, the idea that one can have learning and sex until rigor mortis sets in. Her beliefs that age does not change an individual’s actions or worth is the corner stone of the Gray Panther organization.

Outcomes/Long Term Effects on U.S. Culture:

After organizing a protest for the nearly non-existent African American representation at the first White House Conference on Aging and speaking at the United Presbyterian Church general assembly, Maggie Kuhn and the Gray Panthers began receiving national attention in newspapers, television, and on the radio. The Gray Panthers not only created the National Media Task Force, which successfully change the Television Code of Ethics to include age, along with gender and race, but also managed to help pass the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which increased the retirement age from 65 to 70. Furthermore, the growth of the Gray Panthers pointed towards an increase in awareness of seniors’ concerns. The Gray Panthers aided in forming the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, which helped reform care within nursing homes. They also managed to kick off the first “Age and Youth in Action Summit”, which used the collaboration between young and old to fix common problems within the community. The Gray Panthers have gained the power to discuss matters with the Economic and Social Council within the United Nations and counsel the World Health Organization.

As additional organizations dedicated to senior citizens’ concerns began to receive increasing influence in the society, it became known that the older Americans had the capability to make an impact on government policies. With its members concentrating their efforts on mandatory retirement, Social Security, and housing, the Gray Panthers have been able to make dramatic changes. Believing that “under no circumstances should a person be removed because of physical characteristics that are irrelevant to job performance”, the Gray Panthers were eventually able to banish the mandatory retirement age in America. Under lobbyists’ pressures, senior citizens began to receive increased Social Security benefits that allowed for monthly cash benefits, paid for by the working class, and free healthcare through Medicaid, after a Federal judge voided a government regulation made to limit Medicaid eligibility. As for housing, the Gray Panthers pushed for a concept called shared housing that allowed for senior citizens to rent out extra space to the younger generation in need of cheap housing. Along with these changes, the Gray Panthers have supervised planning commissions, zoning boards, courts, banks, and insurance companies in order to ensure equality; freed people from inadequate nursing homes; and censored the media from stereotypes based on age. As more and more senior citizens learn of their political prowess, the elderly will continue to remain as an important factor in determining the outcome of government issues.

External links:

http://www.graypanthers.org/

http://www.essortment.com/all/maggiekuhn_rfxw.htm

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/maggiegrowls/panthers.html