I couldn't wait when I turned eighteen to participate in an election, to take my place as an American citizen and cast a vote for the person I felt most qualified to run my city, my state, represent me in Washington DC, or represent this nation as President of the United States of America. In high school I was part of a history class that was designed to give us an indepth knowledge of the US Constitution and then compete in a state competition against several other high schools throughout the State of Indiana. Our inner-city high school had won this state contest five of the past six years up to that point. Our team was the only one in the state with vast racial diversity (meaning the only one with black students), so some of the teams were not only surprised by our continued success, they were visibly upset. I would have to survey a few of my friends, but I don't think that we even understood the complexity of racial discrimination or truly felt its impact at the State Competition. Our success was derived from one of the best teachers of which I ever have had the pleasure of being a student, Mr. Karl Schneider. Mr. Schneider's teaching style I have tried to emulate whenever I am in front of a group of eager minds waiting for knowledge to be poured into them. We were such students. Mr. Sneider though would lead us into certain answers, but never quite gave us the answers. He would approached the subject matter by asking us to find the answers using research methods, critical inquiry and analysis, discussion, and a myriad of other techniques that came from the student rather than the banking model of depositing information in our head only to regurgitate it on tests and class work. His methods had us investigate ourselves and truly discover the wondrous world that transcends the viewing of it in Black & White.
Mr. Schneider encouraged us to set aside friendship, race, class status (in this case it class refers to both economic and high school standing i.e. freshman, sophomore, etc.), physical attributes, and GPA when critiquing the papers and speeches we were developing for the competition. He told us to look within the person delivering the messages and find the flaw in what they were saying not the flaw in the person him/herself. He told us it was no need to revise the person, but ok to challenge their work and encourage revision. The We The People competition was designed for high school students to argue before a panel of judges five to six different categories of issues related to the US Constitution. It was cool how it was set up to mimic a Congressional hearing, so our argument had to be coherent, concise, and credible. The panel was made up of lawyers from around the state, state representatives and professors that knew their respective field as it relates to the Constitution, so we had to be thoroughly prepared. We worked nearly an entire semester in this class studying the Constitution, practicing memorizing our speeches, and learning about each other in the process.
This past Sunday I awakened and turned on the television as I always do and catch the round of Sunday political programming. I had heard buzz that one of my ultimate heroes was going to be on and announce that he would endorse one of the candidates running for President of the United States of America. This was big news because he is one of the most respected military, diplomatic and political figures in the nation and when he speaks people seem to listen. I took a deep breath because I knew the severity of his being on television this day, two week and two days before the election. I wondered exactly what would happen, would he endorse the candidate of the party of which he has benefited from for the past thirty plus years, or would he cross political party affiliation and endorse the candidate that resembles his race. I knew the arguments before they even happened, if he went McCain, the Republican, it would be praised as a thoughtful decision, not a loyal soldier backing his party. In contrast, going Obama, would certainly come off as he is not thinking, he's voting for him simply because he's Black, and not that he did any due diligence in reaching this decision.
I looked on with intent as he was asked, "General [Colin] Powell, are you ready to back any particular candidate for President?" he responded with the most thoughtful, thorough and insightful answer no one else but a seasoned diplomatic statesman such as Colin Powell could deliver. He broke it down into in minute piece and talked very concisely about the vision for America and how the core issues were not being addressed by his party's candidate, such as the current economic crisis and the responses to some of the defamation of the Democratic candidate. He spoke of judgment and how the Sarah Palin fiasco was a disappointment and that he felt she was not ready to be President on day one as the Veep should be (like a back up quarter back ought not be injured if the starter goes down). I was impressed by his answer because it reminded me why I like Powell so much in the first place. Though a staunch loyalist (great soldiers are), he still had an aire of independent thought when it came down to issues that affected the vast majority of the American People.
I thought of Karl Schneider. He taught us about the Constitution, how he loved its concept and despised its misuse. He told us that the true American looks within a situation, a process or a person and make judgments based on character and commitment, and all challenges could be overcome with this type of "on purpose" living. I admire Colin Powell in the same way I admired my history teacher: he was fair, balanced, challenging, respectful, loyal and committed to changing the world for the better. I wish Mr. Schneider could be alive today to witness how far America has come, how the content of one's character overrides pigmentation of the epidermis.
One of the last things I remember about Mr. Schneider is a few weeks before the State competition, he told us we would be the last class that he would ever teach formally, because he would retire at the end of the year. How lucky was I to be taught by this man, who forever changed my life, because he changed the way I processed thought. We won the state competition and went on to place fourth at the National We the People competition that April. Two months later I graduated and Mr. Schneider retired. A few years later he died, but his spirit lives on, because I saw him Sunday morning on television sharing his in-depth wisdom and encouraging the investigation of the issues, the character and commitment of those that will lead our nation. The best teachers teach us to find the teacher and teachable moments in all things....thanks Colin, Karl...
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