Letter | To make the protests matter, young people must show up to vote this November
A woman votes from a booth as her child plays with a cellphone below inside the gymnasium at the Barack Obama Prep Academy on November 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. – Americans started voting Tuesday in critical midterm elections that mark the first major voter test of Donald Trump’s controversial presidency, with control of Congress at stake. About three quarters of the 50 states in the east and center of the country were already voting as polls began opening at 6:00 am (1100 GMT) for the day-long ballot. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP) Image by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Dear Editor,
I was impressed with the passion expressed by the two young authors of Noa Sokatch and Ella Rubin’s June 22 article, and applaud them for invoking tikkun olam as a guiding principle in their lives. As an octogenarian retired scientist, who believes strongly in tikkun olam, it gives me hope for the future of our country as my generation passes control to younger generations.
I offer just one bit of warning, based on living through too much during my many years. In the weeks and months ahead, as the immediacy of George Floyd’s death and other recent horific events pass into history, do not let it be another period of visible injustice, high rhetoric, and little follow up and change.
An important step in creating change is to remove President Trump from office, and this requires as many people as possible to vote in this year’s presidential election. This cranky senior citizen remembers all too well the failure of many young people to vote in 1968, in subsequent years, and even in 2016. The results were Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. I appreciate the good words in the article and the feelings behind them, but you have to vote to start to bring about real change.
Sincerely,
Allan R. Hoffman
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
