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By Mallory Jones, 17, and Milan Patel, 18
Published: January 30, 2008

In the midst of often contentious political debates, a group of mostly retired politicians from both parties decided to put down their verbal arms and discuss a truce.  Early in January, 16  Republicans and Democrats met at a forum at the University of Oklahoma to talk about common ground. These politicians, who included New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sent a message to the presidential candidates that “the nation is yearning for a return to bipartisanship.”

Although the national meeting received a lot of fanfare by the media, it was not the first to promote bipartisanship.

In early August, the Arsalyn Program of the Ludwick Family Foundation based in Glendora, Calif., which is dedicated to increasing civic involvement among youth, brought together 120 youth from around the country for a conference in Washington, D.C., titled “Bridging the Partisan Divide.”  Through speakers and workshops, the conference taught participants the value of discussion and compromise, even though many hold starkly different political views.

“The larger goal of the conference was actually letting young people know the various ways that they have to communicate with one another, where they can really learn,” said Frederick Hemker, one of the coordinators of the event from Arsalyn.

But how did this relate to politics? Hemker explained: “Politics is a conversation at root. I mean, there’s a lot of other stuff that sort of gets into it — it’s about money, it’s about power, it’s about getting certain things done.  But at the basis of it is the conversation about the good society, and about how men, how women should live,” he said.

Cassandra James, 20, a self- proclaimed liberal.

Right now, there might be a lot of discussion going on in the political arena but not much compromise. David Smith, founder of mobilize.org, a youth political activism group based in Berkeley, Calif., held a workshop at the conference called “Democracy 2.0.”  Afterward, he discussed the current political climate and blamed media coverage for the partisan divide.

“A lot of the cable television shows display partisanship (when they) display what they would call a debate, which is basically people yelling at each other, just spouting their own talking points and not really coming to any sort of consensus,” he said.

This discord was not lost on many of the conference participants, most of whom were ages 16 to 21. Many arrived at the conference with strongly held political views, which they found they had to defend when questioned by participants with different views.

Conference participants came from different regions of the U.S. as well as different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Most described themselves as politically informed.

For example, Cassandra James , 20, identified herself as a liberal from San Francisco, where she is a member of the San Francisco Youth Commission appointed by the mayor, whom she characterized as liberal also.
Idriss Fofana, 18, from Edina, Minn., doesn’t identify with any political party but enjoys debating the issues. Similarly, Olga Musayev, 19, from Sammamish, Washington, says she is the most politically attuned of her friends but enjoys discussing the issues with them.

Cuban-American Mario Munez, 16, moved from Cuba to Miami.

Some participants brought international perspectives to the conference. They include Mustafa Abdullah, 20, from Egypt now living in Atlanta, and Mario Munoz, 16, from Cuba now living in Miami.

Despite their differences, these youth saw the value in compromise and cooperation espoused by the conference. For one, such behavior shows a respect for one another.

“I did a workshop where you have to listen to people and when you listen you have to block all those negative comments out of your head,” Mario said. “It really shows you that you don’t have to just fight with people about the topic you’re talking about.”

Such discussion also can help clarify one’s own position and beliefs.

“You can talk and still listen to each other, and even though you might end up agreeing, you can still come up with a greater appreciation for your perspective, and I think that’s important,” Idriss said.

Discussion also can leave people with a clear sense of community, participants said, which can lead them to find common ground in just about any situation.

It is this desire to find a happy medium that is so important to consensus, Mustafa said. “When people don’t have a common goal and this common vision in mind that brings them together, they kind of have these different visions. That’s what really creates the divide.”

But finding that common ground isn’t always easy.
Workshops revealed the various backgrounds and different views of participants, which often shook them out of their comfort zones.            

Arab-American Mustafa Abdullah, 20, came to Atlanta from Egypt.

“It was hard for me to actually meet conservative youth and to actually have to defend like my thoughts and opinions, and to actually have to do that in a constructive way,” Cassandra said.

Before coming to the conference, Mustafa learned how to deal with people different from himself. He explained that he used to take offense at some inquiries about his background. “Being an Arab-American Muslim that lived overseas in Egypt … I get so many questions about being Muslim. It creates almost this defense,” he said.

To increase understanding of Islam, he started an interfaith group at his school, and he tries to be more patient when dealing with sometimes ignorant questions. “I’ve tried to become much more open about it instead of defensive, just really try to reach out to people,” he said.

Hemker said it is this kind of outreach that gives him faith that youth will be able to break down the partisan walls that divide this nation.
“If they had a little training, maybe if they had a way of sort of listening to people and understanding people and talking to people, those sort of divides would break down,” he said.

Such changes can’t begin soon enough. Mario explained that political discord has affected his family life.

“We can’t talk about politics in my family at all. One side is Republican and the other Democratic, so you can’t even touch that subject,” he said.

Hemker stressed the importance of voting as a way to end this animosity between the two parties. He is troubled that the percentage of young people who vote is consistently low. Widespread cynicism is partly to blame for young people’s lack of political involvement, some youth say.

“I was very cynical about the political process and things like that,” said Idriss, who explained that he and his friends often took cues from “The Daily Show” regarding their views on some politicians and issues.

Olga felt the same way. “What I read about in the local news, I get the sense the people in Washington, D.C., aren’t even hiding their blatant political affiliation, that the only reason why they’re doing anything is just for the money,” she said.

But while both of them still believe that many politicians are involved mainly for personal gain, the conference has made them a little more optimistic.

“It gives me a little more hope in the political process,” Idriss said. “The world is not a really good place, but you can’t just give up on it.”
           
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Jonathan Gainer, 15, Ali Rader, 18, Steven Thompson, 16, Rachel Troy, 18, Danielle Wolowec, 17, Cathy Mangan, 17, Izaak Hayes, 17, and Mallory St. Claire, 17.

Copyright 2008 Y-Press