Politics lately has answered the debate about whether racism, homophobia and sexism are still alive in America. So many of the things that we work so hard to overcome in the inner-city are being promoted by the people who want to “take back our country”. As our country becomes more polarized and hate language spreads, conflict and violence seem to be a more acceptable answer for our youth as well. As ignorance becomes portrayed as a virtue in our political discourse it becomes harder to inspire youth to value education. As fear becomes the tactic of those in power to manipulate people to vote against their own interests, youth feeling powerless in their lives, see the power in causing others to fear. Youth reflect their culture.
In all honesty I don’t know how much your vote means anymore in the political process, especially in California where we have tied our politicians hands with the initiative phenomena…and where so many of them are in the pockets of big business. It is however a statement, and maybe if you follow it up with discussion, action and involvement in your community we can move back toward a more civil culture. I am in the business of hope and dreams. So, I vote.
Finally, in glaring contradiction to my belief in nuanced discourse, here are several more reasons to vote tomorrow as reflected in signs seen at the Jon Stewart “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” :
respectfully submitted
Tony
Tony LoRe, CEO & Founder
Youth Mentoring Connection
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