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Students Saying No to War, Yes to Schools
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Posted September 17, 2008 at 7:53 PM
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The final day of the Republican National Convention was an exciting day not only for John McCain and his party, but also for members of the group Youth Against War and Racism.
On the steps of the Minnesota State Capitol, just a few miles from the convention, Youth Against War and Racism held a mock trial. Using large puppets the group staged a theatrical arrest of ‘Dick Cheney’ and ‘Big Oil Bob,’ who the group considers to be war criminals since they see them as profiting from what they say is an unnecessary war at the expense of young people.
The group had been preparing for this day for months. In fact, I caught up with this group a few months ago, when they first began preparing for their mock trial.
Back in July, as they plastered together their puppets, they explained how Youth Against War and Racism began. They told me the group was created in 2004 by a couple of Minnesota high school students who were tired of military recruiters coming into their school looking for potential soldiers to fight in Iraq.
At the mock trial I met Brian Duffany, a student who joined the military out of high school. He told me he felt duped into joining the military. “I was told I’d receive $20,000 for serving, but they never tell you that you get half after boot and half after three years. So, you have to be in the full term in order to get all of the money they promised you.”
Since its inception, YAWR has worked to mobilize students, end the war in Iraq, and get more money for education. The mock trial at the capitol was one way for students to unite and send the message that they want to end the war and start funding schools.
Many young people I talked to told me they were against the war in Iraq because of its high cost both in human lives and money. When I asked them where they would rather see the money being spent, overwhelmingly they told me they’d like to see it put towards education.
I talked to two high school seniors who told me that with large class sizes and a large portion of the student body being recent immigrants, their school could definitely use more funding.
Even though Caitlin Lucas is a student at the University of Minnesota, she marched in support of giving more money to high schools. “Just because we’re not in the public high schools doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate how under funded they are,” Lucas said.
I also talked with University of Minnesota student Quynh Nguyen who told me that college students also needed money for their education. “I don’t see why everybody has to be in such debt, when the country is spending all their money on a useless war – something that doesn’t really do good for any of us,” she said.
High school senior Keyshana Williams summed up the feelings of many of the students at the rally who wanted to see the funding for the war in Iraq spent on education. “War takes a lot of money for a lot of nothing,” she said.
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