Organizing for America | Westlakero62: Young women and politics

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Young women and politics

By Westlaker062 - Jan 6th, 2008 at 3:12 pm EST

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Wrote this letter to the Cleveland PD today

Grew up in Ashtabula a long time ago. After 27 years commissioned service in the Air Force, I spent ten years teaching, the last seven of those at an all girls Catholic High School. I was privileged to be in a school which was ethnically diverse. As a white male; I was in the minority both with regard to gender and race, but that didn’t matter. So I had two great careers. I have a point to make about the young women I taught. They were virtually without exception apathetic about politics. I used Eleanor Roosevelt and the letters that she got from young people to spark their interest and they came to respect Eleanor and see her for the incredible woman she was. I forced my regular US History classes to read Martin Luther King’s “Loving your Enemies Sermon” to key interest in civil rights. They ‘hated’ me (as only young women will say ‘I hate you’ – even though they didn’t) on the day they walked in to find an eight page handout on each desk. Each had to read and individually answer eight questions in 55 minutes. I would give them five timed minutes to vent and then it would get quiet. I knew many could not finish, and at the end I ‘grudgingly’ allowed them to return at lunch or after school to finish. For the few that couldn’t finish, I let the handouts go home, but they had to come back before classes started the next day, hand written. (No computer cut and pastes.) To a woman, they saw the power of Martin Luther King’s words. The difficulty came later; I could not overcome the Bill Clinton improprieties. It was not the things he did with Monica that upset them. It was the fact that he did not tell the truth and showed no remorse. I used the opportunity to show the power of words and how Clinton parsed his words. We had a great time taking apart his infamous “the meaning of ‘is’ is. But that sad Clinton saga overshadowed the good he had done and reinforced their apathy toward politics. Now, for the first time in a long time, we have a Democratic presidential candidate who is inspiring people. Now for the first time in a long time we have a Democratic candidate who does not have major flaws of personality or an outsized ego. For the first time in a long time, we have a candidate who can inspire with words. For the first time in a long time, we have a candidate who unites and does not divide. For the first time in a long time, we have a candidate, who gives us hope that transcends generations. And finally, for the first time in a long time, we have a political campaign that is almost a movement. Thanks to Barack Obama we have hope.

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