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Letter | To make the protests matter, young people must show up to vote this November

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

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