Student speeches look to a brighter future
Holyoke High School students wrote Voice of Democracy speeches this year that broached issues ranging from gender inequality to religious freedom, addressing protests and gun violence. They boldly denounced racism terrorism. Despite being cognizant of injustices and tragedies in the world they live in, the students also spoke with hope and optimism for the future. Their compassion was evident and they encouraged compromise and unity, viewing differences and diversity as something to be proud of.
Awarded first place for his speech was senior Drew Stewart, followed by sophomore Tayler Hale, junior Dylan Miles and sophomore Brenna Gatton.
American history: Our hope for the future
By Drew Stewart
George Santayana once said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It would be hypocritical to say that America’s history has been spotless. As this country was developed and is run by human beings, there are ample mistakes in the way that it functions, but that void of perfection is not something to shy away from. In contrast to the imperfections of our nation, the U.S. has prevailed in its quest to bring the world farther along its path to righteousness.
I have hope for the future; I do not believe that America will perish amidst the darkness of this world. Rather, it will shine like a beacon of hope, beautiful, undaunted, pure. It will be as it always has: focusing on the American dream. For a long while, minorities in America were not able to pursue their dream as diligently as others.
Today, there are still those who are oppressed, and I see the nation working toward equality through protests. There is still a horde of people who disagree with the protests because they, the protests, are in the interests of the minorities. It is these oppressors who wish to deprive the United States of America the rights we all call our own. The reason a divide exists is because they want the divide to exist, to be able to destroy individuality.
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My hope for the future of America
By Tayler Hale
This famous quote was made by Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” However, America hasn’t done a great job of upholding this statement. Despite some positive perspectives, America isn’t a perfect place. It hasn’t been for a long time; in America’s past, its citizens have discriminated, segregated and formed outrageous stereotypes for people who aren’t exactly the same as the majority. The lack of equality is something that America has struggled with for generations upon generations. We have learned from these mistakes, however, and have taken many large steps towards equality in our great nation. We aren’t quite there yet, but I believe that, with hard work and dedication, we can get there in the future. My hope for the future of America is complete equality.
When I think of equality, my mind often goes into basic rights. Back in the times of the Civil War and for many years after, African Americans were unable to have the right to vote, the right to certain jobs, the right to own land and even the right to sit in the front of the bus. Further on, many immigrants, such as the Irish or Chinese, weren’t able or struggled to earn these rights as well.
Considering recent threats, some people may think, “Well, that’s understandable. We didn’t know them and didn’t trust them, so we were just being cautious.” I agree that we as Americans should be cautious about just how much of the unknown we let into our country without research, but lack of rights doesn’t just stop there.
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My dream for America
By Dylan Miles
America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. These words have meaning to our country. We have been through a lot as a country, some of which has us stronger and some which threaten to tear us apart. There were many things in America’s past that brought us to where we are today.
The date is Dec. 7, 1941, the one day America will never forget, Pearl Harbor. The Japanese military surprised us with this attack, and many, many American lives were taken. We grew from this, and we became a stronger country by fighting back. We fought for our freedom, and when we were finished with them, we grew together and knew nothing could stop us from being free. We rebuilt on what we had lost and grew; we created new and bigger things.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of tragedies in our country. Other than military attacks on our country, there were attacks on our country from people who lived in it as well as from outsiders. Columbine, one of the biggest school shootings in American history. April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire on Columbine High School and killed 14 students and one teacher within the building, leaving everyone with emotionally scarring memories, but only two years later, terrorists highjacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and let us not forget Flight 93 who tried to fight back but still ended up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania.
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The future of diversity
By Brenna Gatton
History: it is the building block of the future. We as Americans have had a history like none other. Diversity has always been a part of our history. In the past, it has laid the base for flourishing culture and a feeling of belonging. In the present, it has brought diversity through political parties, opportunity for minorities, but also shortcomings and views of division. But if diversity can continue to flourish, and if we can learn to compromise, our future will be abundant with progress and peace.
The diversity of America’s past has laid the foundation for the flourishing culture we have today. Even in colonial America, we were one of the most diverse places in the world. The first federal census in 1790 recorded that one-fifth of the entire population was African-American. Those that composed the white populations had ancestries of three-fifths were English, one-fifth Scottish or Irish, and the rest was of Dutch, French, German, Swedish, or other backgrounds.
With such a varied foundation, it’s no surprise that those who came here felt a feeling of belonging in the new land. The belonging and acceptance did not stop at ethnicity but extended to religion as well. In fact, in colonial America, there were religious groups such as the Pilgrims, Separatists, Anglicans, Catholics, Puritans, Quakers, Lutherans, Jews, Baptists and others. With so many available religions, one could freely change their minds on what they would follow. It is obvious that diversity has influenced American culture since its foundation, and we can benefit if we learn from their example of diversity.
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