To: the_lucky_duck, "dave tjen" <david>,
"ernest"<ernest>, "Joel L. Dawson"<jldawson44>
Subject: election blues
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 10:04:15 -0800
political cartoon, forwarded from one of my students. he'd already
described it to me, but seeing it still gave me chills.
if I've been silent on these emails, it's partly because it's been extra
busy these past two weeks, but partly, even more than the relief of
Obama winning, my overriding emotion from this election has been
discouragement, that we seem to have overcome one prejudice only to show
how still shackled we are by another. that while close to 50-50 for all
other ethnic groups, blacks voted 70% for prop 8. that another
previously persecuted group, the Mormons, provided a large bulk of the
funding. that the political system, while occasionally capable of
moments of greatness, is still primarily driven by self-interest and
lies.
in LA, protesters outside the Mormon church held up a sign, reflecting
what Californians truly care about: "Chickens 1, Gays 0".
my parents voted for 8. i guess that shouldn't have surprised me. but
it did.
so basically, i've been seeing a half-empty glass.
but...this cartoon helps.
but...Studs Terkel passed away last week, and though I knew little else
about him, a quote of his has been a fundamental tenet of my life, for
half my life now. "Am I optimistic? No, not really. Am I hopeful?
What other choice is there?"
but...in stark contrast to the usual light fare, the drama department
put on "The Laramie Project" last night. And in stark contrast to the
usual case where most of the kids I know have small acting roles or
roles behinds the scenes, as stage managers, props, costume design; this
time, they were on stage, and in spades. Spewing profanity, testing out
Wyoming accents, depicting hate, crying. Making the audience cry.
Showing bigotry for what it is, an evil wrought not from evil, most of
the time, but from ignorance, and tackling it head on, personally.
Swelling my heart with pride. And congratulating them afterwards, the
embarrassing, too loud cries of "Mr. Joo!!" when they saw me waiting for
them, telling them how awesome they were, giving them big hugs.
That's hope. That's half full. More than half full.
--Yong