In high school government, students always learn the basics about politics and the functions of the different levels of government in our country. The sad truth of the matter is, however, that the average student looks at civic engagement and the information they learned about government as simply words on a page.
Citizens have allowed civics to become the game of hopeless idealists, the political elite who already hold office or the ruthlessly ambitious who want public office so badly that they can practically taste it. As a result, our country has fallen into a proverbial hegemonic rut. Why get involved? Why run for public office? Why volunteer in the community? Why vote? Nothing one person does can make a difference, right?
As college students, we must learn the power our words possess and the political clout we actually represent if we would only take action. Earlier this month, The Crimson White published an article detailing segregation within the greek system. In under a week the story had already made it on CNN. This prompted a massive protest in which students and faculty from all walks of life stood together in the doors of Rose Administration Building, and it has even prompted President Judy Bonner to reopen the bid process for the fraternities and sororities on campus.
In another instance, the president of the Alabama College Republican Federation criticized party leadership’s rhetoric following the Supreme Court’s ruling on DOMA and stated that the party needs to engage the youth vote if it is to have success in future endeavors. In response to this measure, the party leadership in Alabama attempted to pass an amendment that would expel any member of the state steering committee who disagreed with the national platform. The story was picked up by Buzzfeed and a number of other news sources, and there was a national outcry on behalf of the College Republican chairwomen. The amendment, once put to a vote, was resoundingly defeated, and now the stage is set for a new era of conservative leadership to rise to the forefront.
When I think of civic activism in the United Sates, I am reminded at the risk of being cliché of a line from the Declaration of Independence, which states that when a people are subjected to despotism and a usurpation of rights, it’s the right and duty of the people to change that government. Our nation, our republic, was created by those who saw the status quo as damnable and who desired to see a better world and establish a new order. We think of these founders as stoic old men when the truth is that many were barely over 30 years old at the beginning of our revolution. We hold the power to change this world. We can be the change we want to see in this world, but this will only happen if the youth of America take action and shake off the malaise of apathy.
Kyle Jones is a sophomore majoring in political science and Spanish. His column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.
