October 2008 Cover
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By
French Wall
This spring, when it was already clear that Obama
was going to win the Democratic nomination, I
returned to my college alma mater for lunch with
old friends.
Much had changed in the 25 years since I'd haunted
the dining hall as an undergraduate. Gone was the
serving line with white-jacketed staff filling plates
to order, replaced by various self-service stations
offering eclectic choices, catering to those with
Levitical, Koranic, vegetarian, vegan, and nut- and
gluten-allergy dietary restrictions. Amidst all this
welcome deference to multicultural palates,
paintings of dead white presidents, themselves
alumni, still looked out over students. One could
not help but wonder what they would think were
they to see in person the polyglot, rainbow-hued
lunch crowd (who were all these women?!),
munching on mung bean sprouts and quaffing
fragrant chai.
Mid-meal, I was happy to be greeted by Eddie, one
of the dining hall staff I had known as a student.
Eddie -- now Ed -- had been a shop steward for
the local food service workers union, a remarkably
progressive chapter that had explicitly welcomed
openly gay people a decade before the university
was pressured into doing the same. Ed, himself
gay, was an unofficial liaison from the union to the
gay students association, and he invited us to
attend raucous union rallies aimed at winning a
"living wage" from the wealthy, but tight-fisted,
university. These high-energy events were
conducted in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and
Haitian Creole -- not for warm 'n' fuzzy imagery,
but out of genuine linguistic necessity. Among the
demands bellowed (and they were loud!) in many
tongues was dignity for gay employees and benefits
for their families on par with those given hetero
workers. At the time, we gay students were dealing
with overt discrimination by -- and cold shoulders
from -- university officials, so to be surrounded by
hundreds of folks loudly demanding gay rights was
inspirational.
"So whaddya think, Eddie," I asked in reference to
the then-still-tumultuous Democratic primaries.
"How's it going to turn out?"
A beaming -- there is no other word to describe his
face -- Ed replied, "We've won!"
"What do you mean? You think Obama's going to
win in November?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter," Ed smiled.
Seeing the puzzled look on my face, Ed explained.
He didn't give a hoot about Obama's warmed-over,
neo-Democratic positions, nor did he put much
stock in the potential inherent in a racially historic
election. Instead, he was listening to the
students.
"We've got a movement back," Ed noted. "I don't
know where it's headed, or where it'll end up, but
the kids are energized again."
Indeed, something's blowing in the wind.
Not only have there been record-setting increases
in voter registration and participation, but more of
those new voters are young people signing up and
voting as Democrats. And not only are young
voters, 18-25, participating at higher-than-ever
rates, their demographic is now a larger slice of the
electoral pie.
Of course, more voters, even if they're Democratic
and young, doesn't guarantee political advance. But
as Obama noted in his nomination acceptance
speech, echoing Ed, change doesn't come
from Washington, it comes to
Washington. At least, we can hope.
| Author Profile: French Wall |
| French Wall is the managing editor of The
Guide |
| Email: |
french@guidemag.com |
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