When Idaho Rep. Brent Crane characterized Rosa Parks as a champion of states’ rights in a recent debate, it was a troubling sign of what happens when a nation doesn’t work hard to remember its history.
A pair of news stories this week reported that students were being silenced and punished when they attempted to speak up for others. This is disappointing.
I am in awe of young people. Today, for example, I read about a group of teens in Louisville, Ky. who continued to speak on LGBT issues. High school students from duPont Manual High School were censored for writing about gay issues, but they refused to let their voices be silenced. They decided to run an underground paper, The Red Pen, and won the annual Courage in Student Journalism Award.
Let’s talk about voting. Yesterday, we asked our 65,000 Facebook followers if they had held mock elections in their schools. We heard from one lone voice that reported her middle school had 100 percent turnout.