June 30, 2001
BY THOMAS ROESER

The distinguished educator Mortimer Adler, Who taught the great ideas to university intellectuals here and to business executives in Aspen, said that his most satisfying experience was thrashing out Aristotle's basics to inner-city minority kids. That's because they came out swinging with a vigor that entranced this great philosopher. I must say I doubted Adler until this week. That's when I began teaching politics and journalism in summer school to mostly Hispanic teenage boys sponsored by the Midtown Educational Foundation. Compared to them, the seminars at Harvard, the Wharton school and Oxford, et al., including Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola and Roosevelt universities, never had the same zing.

We've been exploring who has the most clout. I told them not big business, not politicians, but them. If they get involved in an issue, by banding together they can get change in the country. You could hear the scoffing. Listen, I said: Who was Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1950s but an unknown young minister? Who was Ralph Nader but a kid lawyer? Who was Rosa Parks but a lady whose feet hurt, so she didn't want to move to the back of the bus? Who was Cesar Chavez but a young farm worker? Who has more potential to win change today: a group of unknowns able to articulate their case so as to bring in the TV cameras, or a big-shot business lobbyist? In the old days, it was the lobbyist, hands-down. Not anymore on some big issues: health care, so-called campaign finance reform, even national defense. And to prove it, I told them I had been a lobbyist and know what I'm talking about.

What issues are out there for advocacy? They ticked off the ones that are being pushed today: minority rights, environmentalism, women's rights, gay rights, disabled people's rights. Ah, I said, but you forget one: What about the rights of people who don't have a voice? They pondered. Who would that be? I said "Think! Who would they be?"

For a short time there was silence in the classroom as they pondered. I said: Give up? Yes; they did. What about the unborn? The who? The unborn, those who are very much alive but without voices to protest their execution. They turned to the debate: Women's rights over their bodies vs. the inability of the unborn to choose. They got tangled up in these countervailing rights with language far more memorable than that of the aforementioned college seminars.

Finally, one kid said: You a Republican? I confessed. Yes, and a conservative, as well. There were some jeers; then they went back to the issue at hand. Was it possible that they could get clout? Yes, I said, because activism spells TV coverage.

As we study and debate together, I wonder: Is this what it's come to with my life, seeking to empower a group of teenagers? I guess so. Perhaps this is more significant work for me than what I've done as businessman, radio talk show host, Peace Corps executive and government staffer.

"Clinton was a great president!" shouted one kid, seeking to rile me up. Another accusation was hurled: "Nixon was a big liar!" I can't quarrel with that. More than 30 years ago, I was lied to by his guys, given a policy job to launch a minority enterprise program, then fired. Finally, a kid goes back to the theme of the class: "Yeah, what you say is right. We all got power we haven't used yet." This time there was wide agreement. Score one for me. They know they can get clout.

That's the stuff! Now I know what Adler meant when he said these kids give you a high.

Donald Haider and Patricia Bidwill
Midtown Educational Foundation
Board of Directors