30/04/2017 America this Week

What has been going on while I have been gone?

Wonderful to be at the University of Chicago.

Wonderful to be on the South side of Chicago.

CHEERING And wonderful to be with these young

What I want to do is just maybe speak very briefly at the

Then, I want to spend most of the time we

are together hearing from these remarkable young people.

Who are I thinnk representative of some

amazing young people in the audience as well.

I was telling these guys that it was a little over 30 years

I had gotten out of college filled with idealism and

absolutely certain that, somehow, I was going to change the world.

Or where or what I was going to be doing.

And so I worked first to pay off some student loans.

And then I went to work at the city colleges of New York on the

Harlem campus with some student organising.

Then there were a group of churches out on the south side.

Who had come together, try to deal with the steel plants that had

And the economic devastation that had been taking place.

But also the racial tensions and turnover

They had formed an organisation and hired me as what

I did not really know what that meant.

For the next three years, I lived here in Hyde Park,

but I worked further South in communities like

Roseland and Auburn Gresham and Altgeld Gardens.

Many of which had changed rapidly from

Full of wonderful people who were proud of their communities,

proud of the steps they had taken to try and move

But were also worried about their futures because,

in some cases, their kids were not doing as well as they had.

In some cases, these communities have been badly

The distribution of city services were unequal.

For three years, I tried to do something

I am the first to acknowledge that I did not the world afire.

Nor did I transform these communities in any significant way,

This community gave me a lot more than I was able

Because this community taught me that ordinary

people, when working together, can do extraordinary things.

This community taught me that everybody

This experience taught me that, beneath the surface

differences of people, that there were common

Aspirations. Common values.

That stitched us together as Americans.

And asylum, even though after three years I left for law school, the

lessons that had been taught to me here as organiser are ones that

stayed with me. And effectively gave me the foundation for my subsequent

political career and the themes that I would talk about as a state

legislator and a US senator and ultimately as president of the

United States. I tell you that history because, on the back and now

of my presidency, now that it is completed, I am spending a lot of

time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do from next

job? LAUGHTER

And what I am convinced of is that, although there are all kinds of

issues I care about, that I intend to work on, the single most

important thing I can do is to help in any way I can prepare the next

generation of leadership to take up the batten and to take their own

crack at changing the world. Because the one thing that I am absolutely

convinced of is that, yes, we confront a whole range of challenges

from economic and equality, lack of opportunity, criminal justice system

that too often is skewed in ways that are not productive, to climate

change to issues related to violence. All those problems are

serious, daunting, but not insoluble. What is preventing us

from tackling them and making more progress really has to do with our

politics and our civic life. It has to do with the fact that because of

things like political gerrymandering, our parties have

moved further and further apart and it is harder to find common ground.

Because of money in politics. Special interests dominates the

debates in Washington. Anyways that do not match up with what the broad

majority of Americans feel. Because of changes in the media. We now have

a situation which everyone is listening to people who already

agree with them. And are further reinforcing their own realities. To

the neglect of a common reality that allows us to have a healthy debate

and try to find common ground and actually move solutions forward. And

so, when I said in 2004 that there were no red states or those days,

they are the United States, that was an aspirational, it -- red states of

blue states. I still believe when you talk to individuals one on one,

there is a lot more that people have in common that divides them. -- than

divides them. But it is not as true in politics as civic life. Maybe

people are not as involved, they get cynical and give up. As a

consequence, we have some of the lowest voting rates of any advanced

democracy. Low participation rates translate into a further gap between

who is governing us and what we believe. The only folks who can

solve that problem and the next Generation, young people. I have

been encouraged everywhere I go in the United States and around the

world to see how sharp and astute and tolerant and thoughtful and

entrepreneurial our young people are. There are lots more

sophisticated than I was at their age. The question becomes, what are

the ways in which we can create pathways for them to take

leadership, for them to get involved? Other ways we can knock

down some of the barriers discouraging young people? About a

life of service. If there are, I want to work with them to not down

those barriers. To get this next-generation to accelerate their

move towards leadership. If that happens, I think we will be just

fine. I end up being incredibly optimistic. So with that, what I

would like to do is to have our panellists here today, each tell us

a little about themselves, and I have asked them ahead of time, I

gave them the question ahead of time, to describe from the what it

is they see among their peers that they think discourages voting,

participation, paying attention to some of the issues and getting

involved. Do they have immediate suggestions of a kinds of things

that would get young people more involved and engaged and discover

their voices? Once we have gone through the entire panel, we will

open it up and see how it works. Hopefully, it will be interesting! I

will find it interesting, hopefully you will. We will start with

Chelsea. Good morning everyone. It is an honour to be here with you. I

am a senior at University, I have studied leadership qualities. I have

been involved on campus. I am looking forward to graduating in

less than two weeks and my masters. My passion for working with college

students stems from a community and activist. And understanding that the

transformative time is an opportunity for students to learn

about important issues and find their voice. Understanding we cannot

get discouraged when something does not go our way immediately but also

working towards the common cold. Fantastic. OK.

APPLAUSE Good morning. I grew up in

Milwaukee. I am a US Army veteran, majoring in sociology at University.

Currently, I am a research assistant. Collaborative research

projects, we have worked on landlord tenant issues, youth leadership

programmes. We are working on a project about the date labour market

in Chicago. It is a pleasure, Mr President. I am taking it. I was

raised on the south side of Chicago in a low income household, graduated

valedictorian and in the top ten. Broncos in the House. Number one

from Chicago State University with my bachelors in chemistry. And

graduated a second time with my doctorate in pharmacy.

APPLAUSE I have a community pharmacy manager

on the south side of Chicago for the three years. I am also author of ten

tactics to tackle spending, the guide to elementary school, as

school and undergraduate success. You can see where they have merely

follow! I have been involved in civic engagement and civic life

through the Institute of politics here at the University which has

been a blessing and a fantastic resource to all of us. The summer

after my first year here they gave stipends, I think the number was 16

of us going to Des Moines for the summer of 2015 to work with press

agencies or campaigns. That was eye opening in terms of having to

campaign directly and how far you can move the needle by moving one

vote in the caucus. I have also been involved on campus with student

government and College Republicans. APPLAUSE

Hello everyone, I am the baby of the panel. I am currently a senior at

Kenwood Academy high school. CHEERING

And throughout my high school career I have been involved in numerous

student led organisations, multiple sports teams etc and outside of high

school I have been involved in a lot of community-based organisations to

volunteer my time with the youth as well. In the fall I will be

attending college in Dallas, Texas with multiple scholarships to my

name and I am also an entrepreneur. I will say, with my own clothing

line. OK, all right. Peace and blessings everyone. I am living on

the north-west side of Chicago, I arrived as a proud immigrant around

the age of 14 with my mum and sister from India. I attended public

schools and went to the University of Illinois, Chicago. Boil for my

undergraduate studies and for my masters in planning and policy.

After graduating I did become an organiser with somebody in the

audience I want to point out, and mentor of mine. That experience led

me to run for office and most recently now I work for new America,

I am the deputy director here in Chicago where we do what we are

doing today, infusing new ideas and voices into public policy

conversation so I am really looking forward to that. Excellent. All

right. So as you can see we have an extraordinary group here. Sharp

young people. But you would also notice the kind of avoided my

question! But that's good because it sets up the next segment. Look... In

the presidential election you have maybe half of your peers voting. In

mid-term elections about a third of your peers vote. I suspect that if

you ask a lot of young people about a wide range of issues, regardless

of where they sit ideological ideological way, they will say they

are concerned about the economy and foreign policy and this or that. But

a lot of them feel as if their involvement would not make a

difference. It's not worth their time. And in fact, they are

discouraged and feel disempowered. So all of you have already shown

yourselves to be willing to get out there and be involved. To make a

difference. I am curious as to what it is you think prompted you get

involved in some fashion. And when you talk to your friends, what is it

you think that is preventing them from doing so which might make a

difference? We don't have to go in order, so if anybody wants to start,

I like that a new! Although I am in high school a lot of my peers, I am

a senior so of course some of my peers were able to double this year

but overall I am grateful to take courses at Kenwood Academy high

school that involve political science, we take African-American

studies except job but not a lot of schools have that opportunity. So I

would say awareness is something that holds a lot of our youth back

from getting involved. Because I am privileged and therefore I step up

and I encourage others to get involved and to have a voice. But I

think the youth feel like they don't have a voice. So that plays a huge

factor as to why the results are the way they are if that makes sense? It

makes a lot of sense, do you think that as you were coming up, social

studies, civic education, what kids are getting in the classroom, would

make a difference? Do you think it would make more of a difference if

young people had the opportunities to volunteer with organisations, to

engage in community service? What is it you think would make the biggest

difference in young people saying you know what, if I volunteer for

this organisation I might make a difference in my community? Or if

either to spit on this issue? Somebody might hear my voice, what

do you think would be most effective? I feel like in order to

encourage the youth it involves having a strong support system

behind it to bring the youth up. For instance, in school, we are taught

social studies but we tend to focus on mathematics, science, English,

because that's what we are always brought up on because of tests,

exams, etc. So social studies and civic education is pushed to the

side. So I feel like it should be encouraged in a school system

because the majority of our youth are in school of course. And then

from there build outside programmes. From there, yeah... Come on. I

agree. I also went to Kenwood, it was the start of me getting my foot

in the door to want to expand and to outside things. Also funding

after-school programmes and summer programmes because I had to- three

jobs ever since eighth grade, every summer. Because first of all you

make money, so... So that was the first thing but also it helped my

resume, helped me get my feet wet to allow me to see different

opportunities, see if I liked being a councillor, if I wanted to be a

cheerleading coach or a tutor. Trying different things every summer

helped me hone in on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

After-school programmes as well, the funding for that helps keep the kids

off the street, hopefully in Chicago we will have less violence as they

will have something to do and you are enriching their lives in school

and after school and also in the summer. I'm

I'm sorry, did you work in the Bronx during the summer, what prompted you

to first of all, describe the experience was and then give us a

sense of what inspired you to do something like that. I have been

involved in an alternative break and merging programme which sends

students on trips over spring break and winter break. Spring Break of my

junior year of college I was in the South Bronx working with a group at

an elementary school. We took ten students and we were there to enrich

the students lives. What is so unique about this programme is we

understand the privilege we have to be welcomed into these communities.

We are not there to support them, we are supporting them but we are there

to learn from them and understand the experiences they are having. To

understand just how wonderful so many of these young kids are. I

remember the principal at Immaculate Conception which is the school we

were at coming up to us and saying I hope you realise this is the only

weak eyed of the year the students get to finger paint because it's too

messy with just one teacher. It took a lot of us being there to let them

do that. It shows the impact young people can have in these

communities. You're going to say something and obviously your service

in the military is an example of public service that thankfully

everyone now appreciates, that wasn't always the case. But what I

discovered was once our veteran 's take of the uniform, leave the

service, sometimes people forget how much talent is there and the need to

tap into the amazing young people that have served in our military so

that they can work in the community and continue the leadership they

have shown while they were in the military. You have been able to make

that transition but talk a little bit about your mindset both when you

went into the military and after you left, how did that change your

perception in terms of your responsibilities to your community

and how you might be able to make a difference? When I joined the

military I joined six months out of high school. I was working

full-time, I was not in school or college, being in college is a big

deal and graduating is an even bigger deal where I come from. But

it is about graduating high school, getting a job, stuff like that. I

was in the military and I realise there is so much more to that. And

that I am being afforded this wonderful opportunity to engage with

so many different people from all over the country. Have so many

different views but we all share the same goal. And I realised that if I

wanted to make a larger contribution I was going to have to go to school

and so that's what I did. I served my initial contract and received an

honourable discharge in March 2014 and moved to Chicago in June. I was

in Roosevelt by August. I did not do it by myself, when I got out the

military I was part of a programme called veteran 's upward bound. It's

a programme perfections that need to brush up on their academic skills

before they enter college. And being a part of that literally saved me

taking extra courses, remedial courses. I benefited immensely from

that. And I was fortunate enough to get a research assistant position at

Roosevelt and that really, that really got me going. I was working

with different projects, youth, landlords, it was amazing because

these are regular folks. That's something I definitely wanted to get

involved in. To answer your question about what I think is preventing the

youth, I think we need to connect personal problems with public

issues. I feel like sometimes, you are working two jobs and cannot

afford daycare, it's not because you are lazy. So if we can establish a

connection which demonstrates that connection, I am big on collecting

data and numbers, 80% of people are experiencing this in your community

for example and you don't know it. You don't see it but here is a

number, this is the fact. I believe that a huge thing we can do to help

them. You are making a terrific point, one of the things I learned

when I was organising, and this is true for I think a lot of young

would-be do-gooders, you show up in a neighbourhood and your initial

instinct is to tell people what they should be interested in. Instead of

spending the first six months listening and finding out what they

actually are interested in. And then connecting... APPLAUSE

Connecting their immediate needs to the policies that are having

influence on those areas of concern. And the more that you can make

concrete for people, the fact that the reason there are not enough

after-school programmes is not just because they are impossible to set

up but have to do with budgets. Here are the people who are making the

decisions about the budgets. And the reason there is a lack of childcare

is not because, you know, you are the only single mum who need

childcare, everybody needs childcare. But there are not enough

facilities in place with trained childcare providers and this is what

a change in public policy could do to provide everybody support. That's

when you start bringing people together and their voices are

amplified. Because what is certainly true is that one voice by itself

rarely changes something. Two voices have a better shot. 20 voices, OK,

we are getting somewhere. It begins with the

listening process. So people feel like they are being

heard at the outset. Were you someone always interested

in politics generally, or is this something that

came to you? In a sense, you have been active

in College Republicans. One, do you feel as if on college

campuses sometimes you are not heard I think there is certainly

a perception sometimes among young people who are on the more

conservative end of the spectrum that colleges are a bastion

of political correctness. Also, have you found ways

in which you can connect and have a conversation

with the college Democrat and the person who has a different

point of view so that we can encourage better conversations

and better understanding I think, being interested in

politics, I don't know that I came My mother was involved

in the PTA when I was a child. The PTA is a lot

of work, you know. And think the message

something like that would send, She did that because the

educational system, more broadly fostered in the town,

was important to her and something I think, in eighth grade,

which was your first election, At the beginning of the year picked

a campaign to follow Each week, we did a report

for the teacher on how the candidate Polling information

that we had accumulated. It was an interesting process and it

taught us to care about the news at a time when maybe that was not

something you went home and watched. Something that made you more

aware of the issues. I was fortunate enough to go to

high school in New Hampshire. It is just part of the whole ethos,

every four years they care. That people care about

what New Hampshire has to say. One of the things that is a shame

in that process is that there is a group that is as active every

four years because They are big in the

towns they are from. You have people active every four

years and are sort of gone You have some if you are brought up

a certain way, you are brought up to believe that your opinion

is going to count for something, then go

on to do big things... I had a friend that I went to high

school with, she has been She ran for an open seat.

That is just how it goes up there. In terms of being involved

in politics, I was fortunate enough to take a year between high

school and college. I worked in Washington,

DC at the Senate. That is an eye opening

experience because it forces you to confront,

in a real way, what You gain a lot of information

very, very quickly. I am immensely grateful

for the opportunity. After coming here, that

changed my worldview. I thought I would come

here and be an economist, like every first-year believes

at some level here. And that, coupled

with my time at the Institute of Politics, which was a good,

structured force to show that there was many venues

to engage civically. Let me explore things

like campaigning in Iowa. As for being a Republican

on a college campus, yesterday, NBC ran an article on their website

and it did not say who we were, just the composition was one

Republican, and the rest Maybe three people sent me

the article and say, is it you? It depends on the setting

whether it is something you are At the Institute of Politics,

most people know at this point. In the beginning of 2016,

caucus season going on, those of us who had been in Iowa

and could do the caucus maths, The issue of the hot

commodity in the room There were venues certainly

when I would not have brought it up or would not have been particularly

forthcoming with it. I think people suspected

it, but I did not... I will leave that to the other

student Government people I don't necessarily know

what I was afraid of, but I think there is a sense that,

if you harbour a view that does not jive with the majority view,

that you can expect some level of ostracisation

from certain people. You can expect people to assume

the worst aspect of you based I don't think anyone sitting in this

room agrees with their party on 100% I might be wrong, but if you raised

a hand I can't see you. So I think being a Republican

on a college campus is, Most people don't agree with you,

and when you engage in the dorms and the dining halls with those

people who are able to see you, the person, and you,

the person with the political views, you are forced to know yourself well

and do soul-searching well. And to understand why

it is you think what you think. And what part of your past

about what you believe now. I think the other thing is there is

a significant empathy gap. Not just here but everywhere. I think most

people have not had in their homes for dinner in a real weight someone

who is significantly different from them, politically racially. We have

cloistered ourselves. The liberal bastion of college campuses

certainly can be true. I lucky year. The School is committed to accepting

our thoughts. I think a broader societal problem, if you look at the

county map of 2016, you had a lot of counties where it was over 80% of

the vote and the reverse was true for the president now. There is not

understanding. It is not just that we are reading different use, we do

not each other any more. -- difference news. We require more

civility I think. APPLAUSE

A lot of problems with our politics that at home we blame politicians a

lot for the failure of each of us to grasp each other well. Your mentor,

Lugar, ... People could not stand to see their member bridge a gap on a

human level. There is an empathy gap and people see politics in this

generation and say, this is ugly, this is mainly, this is something

you have pretty experienced people doing. And if the country is a ship

and politicians are sellers, maybe at the ballot moves a degree either

way. -- sailors and the vote moves a degree either way.

You cannot really run a country where half of it hates the other.

Somehow, we are going to have to find ways to bridge that with people

who are not like us. On this page, other than me, you have run for

office. I am the oldest. I know you last, but I did, too, once. Right

here in this cutie. -- community. What prompted you to run for office,

which is a different kind of engagement. What did you take from

the experience? Digital discouraged, did you feel, OK, this was fine? Or

if not fun, was it worth it? Would you encourage other young people to

take their shot? For me, the first time I ever did something that is

considered separately engaged. I could not vote until after the Iraq

war had already started. The first time I thought of doing something

for this country was protesting the Iraq war. I felt passionately we

were in the wrong part of history there. I think you are also at that

point. I agreed with you at the time. I could not vote but I felt at

a lot of the time civic engagement in a sense gets stuck in the dynamic

of voting, electoral engagement, does not always expand. We have to

expand, the wager mother date. Or being on a board for nonprofit. --

the way your mother date. -- the way your

to directly answer the question around why I went from protesting to

working at a nonprofit, organising, thinking electoral politics is one

of the many routes I am going to engaging, for me that happened in

2010. After organising I saw a lot of the jargon used against us as

young people at that time, I did not understand. I went back to college

to understand public policy language. When I rang, my last and

is Patel, not a lot of Patels in office. There are a lot more Patels

men Obamas. I had a joke, but I am not going to. I do not want to get

stuck in this two party language. But there is a lot of different cult

of personalities and politics that people get drawn to. Can't really go

beyond the questions you are allowed to ask within. I wanted to protest,

run for office, run a small business, do the organising, figure

out what is the most effective way that I want to live my life, be

happy, and inspire a whole generation of folks who look like

me, or South Asian immigrants or Muslim background. I want people to

feel like they can do anything. Also, Illinois has establishment

politics that is really old. Not all day and age, but I thinking. A

monopoly of power, money, ideas that only come from few families or

sometimes a few zip codes. I want to say that is not how we should move

forward. APPLAUSE

A couple of thoughts based on some of the things that folks have said.

First of all, you say, Horatio, there are a lot of different ways to

engage being important. Sometimes, people think, if you are not running

for office, or it is not election day, there is no other ways of

getting involved. The parent teacher Association is a perfect example of

what we want to encourage. There are writers and social

thinkers out there who would argue that one of the problems we have

with politics right now is that the mediating institutions, the unions,

the churches, the PTA groups, the Rotary Club, a lot of the voluntary

organisations that used to exist, sororities and fraternities, that

used to bring people together to then work on issues, that those have

declined. And the statistics show that people are less likely to be

involved with various organisations in the community than they used to

be. And what that means is then people don't have some of the same

habits of being together on a common project. We become a more

individualistic society and that has spill-over effects when it comes to

political participation and empathy because you are interacting with

your people on a regular basis. The second thing is how to do with how

we get information so I want to see what people thank. I think a lot of

us who have been in politics for olive oil to see a change from 20

years ago, certainly 30 years ago, where it used to be everybody kind

of had the same information and we had different opinions about it but

there was a comment baseline of facts. And that the Internet in some

ways has accelerated this sense of people having entirely separate

conversations. And if this generation is getting all of its

information through its phones then you don't have to confront people

who have different opinions or different experience or different

outlook. If you are liberal then you are on MSNBC, if you are

conservative you are on Fox News. You read the Wall Street Journal or

you read the New York Times. Whatever your choices are. And maybe

you are just watching cat videos, which is fine. LAUGHTER

So one question I have for all of you is how do you guys get your

information about the news and what's happening out there and are

the ways in which you think we could do a better job of creating a common

conversation now you have 600 cable stations and all these different

news outlets that basically are offering one set of opinions. If

there are two sets of opinions they are just yelling at each other so

you do not get the sense there is conversation going on. And the

Internet is worse. It's become more and more polarised. How much do you

think that affect how people think about issues and are other ways that

that could be changed given that most of your information and

certainly for the younger people coming up behind you, even more,

they are getting their information primarily off their phones. I think

social media has its pros and cons. When it comes to getting information

about what is going on in the world it is way faster on social media

than it is on a newscast but on the other hand it can be the downfall

because what if you're passing the wrong information? Or the

information is not presented in the way it should be? So that causes a

clash in our generation and I think it should go back to the old school.

I think phones, social media, should be eliminated because, not, wait

wait wait, I think I should rephrase myself! I think when it comes to

politics and important information that can influence younger

generations it should be organic. Politicians should actually reach

out and physically talked to the community so there cannot be any

misconception on the information being passed because social media,

going on to Twitter or Facebook, anybody can hack your social media

page which causes problems. To actually go out to the community,

the community will feel more welcome and and I think that goes back to

actually getting involved because to have somebody shake your hand and

look at you and talk to you is more heartfelt feeling, to actually

listen to what that person has to say. Is interesting. One of the

other things you bring up and you have said what I am thinking, is

going back to the basics and having in person conversations. One of the

things I see as most important is people being able to listen and

understand rather than listening to respond. There does not have to be

an immediate response. I learned that in marriage by the way!

LAUGHTER Just a tip for you young people.

Listening to understand rather than listening to respond. That will save

you a lot of heartache and grief. Sorry. LAUGHTER

Just a little tip. I think it's something our generation, we find it

easier to hide behind Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, being able to

have in-person conversations and listen to the other side is the only

way we are going to get anything done. I think it's important to

engage with the leaders of that community and instead of going in

there and thinking because it affects you in another city doesn't

mean it's going to be the same dynamics in this neighbourhood. I

think it's important to understand that. I want to help but I need to

be humble and listen to people that have lived through it and have more

of a clear understanding of what is needed. Dialogue is important,

deliberation is important. You need to critically analyse people's

views. Then you can create a plan off of that. I definitely think, as

far as like, where you get your news from, diversity is important. Not

every news station that leans Republican is horrible, it's nice,

you need to understand how the other side banks. -- how the other side

thinks. But I really believe that not shunning people who have

different views from you, recognising that you do want to help

but respecting the fact that there are people who have been here longer

than you that have lived through these issues and you need to work

with them instead of outsourcing help. Any other thoughts? I think,

there was an interesting, it was either in the Journal or the Times

shortly before the election that showed they made a generic

Republican Facebook page and generic Democratic Facebook page and they

showed you the news articles which would be in the feed. And the facts

of the case, we now live, there are rumours we do not have fact any more

in society, I am in a winger sticks class called truth now and they

played us a documentary with the man who was a defence attorney in the

Bronx during the 70s. He will tell you that if you ask somebody what

shape the table is you can get three answers. If you are sitting at the

table it's a rectangle, if you are underneath that it's the ceiling and

if you are looking at it from the side it's got a rounded edge so it's

a semicircle. I think that's basically where we are with the

news. I don't know if the coverage where of the same issues that people

would find factual difference anyway. I think part of the problem

is we don't agree on what the issues are that are pressing and facing the

country. I don't know how you get there but I don't think the national

dialogue messily starts online or in the press. I think it starts

door-to-door. That's how people go about campaigning, in that right now

it's easy to sort of know you have numbers if you can only get them to

show up and there is no onus to work to get somebody else to turn out for

you to persuade them your point of view is correct. Instead there is a

broad incentive to spend millions of dollars on advertising and is seeing

if my opponent is elected the apocalypse will a car, rivers or run

red and Hawaii will sink. There has to be aligned to make all things

happen. I think at all levels there has to be a conversation and people

have to be willing to talk to each other again. Maybe that'll start in

middle school where you see in a class who has different views and

commit part of social studies time to have people talk to issues of the

day and why they think what they think but we have to get back to a

place where people talk to each other again. That's been a running

theme. I will say this, the reason I was able to run for the United

States Senate was because, in addition to my base here in Chicago

I had spent a lot of time travelling around the state. And over time I

got to know people in parts of Illinois that today would be

considered red and I lucked out effectively that I was under the

radar screen so political ads did not characterise me. So people would

meet me, even though I am this Chicago lawyer from a liberal

district with an Arab sounding name, but I would show up. And you would

have a conversation. And you talk about their kids and basketball,

what was happening on their jobs. People got a sense that my frames of

reference and my values were not so different from theirs. And that gave

me the ability to break through some of the assumptions that people might

have otherwise had. And in some ways Iowa was the same way, I am

travelling around the state as you know from having worked there, its

retail politics. You're going door-to-door and talking to people.

We did not have a huge amount of money particularly initially for TV

ads so it was just meeting people. And that does change peoples

assumptions. When they get a chance to know somebody directly. So part

of what we are going to have to figure out is how do we create

greater opportunities. That's true between red parts of the state and

blue parts of the state. It is true even within the city of Chicago. I

was, yesterday, with a group of young men who are part of a

programme designed to give them opportunities and pathways away from

violence and crime. These are some young people from 18-24, all were

African-American except one who was Latino. Many of them already had

prison records. And had done some pretty rough stuff. Several of whom

had already been shot, in some cases multiple times. None of whom had

grown up with fathers. Many of whom had effectively been orphaned when

they were very young. So this would be the stereotypical profile of

somebody who has a good likelihood of shooting or getting shot here in

Chicago. Part of the violence. That has been plaguing the city. What was

striking when you sat down with these guys was there young people.

And if you had listened to them talking you would recognise them as

not that different from any other young man, 18-24. What was different

was the circumstances. They had grown up in some cases in foster

care or other mother was a drug addict and they have been neglected.

So even within the city boundaries, a lot of times we will characterise

our neighbours, as something entirely different than us. That we

cannot understand that we are afraid of we cannot communicate with and

political rhetoric reinforces that. And they need to be heard as well

because if the six of you had been in that conversation you would have

come away not saying these are some thugs or super predators that I

cannot relate to, you would actually say if I had gone through what they

went through I'm not sure how things would have worked out for me either.

And that creation of empathy then promises a different kind of civic

response and political response from the one we so often have. So that

hearing other people I think is vital and the question is are other

ways in which we can create opportunities to do that for more

young people earlier on? Before the lines and divisions start hardening.