Educating the next generation in how democracy works in the U.S. is a vital part of making a democracy work around the world. With that said, the documentary Boys State is not an easy watch for the first hour.
A thousand or so male high school students in Texas are brought together in a one-week camp to learn about city, county, and state governments, and the election process, by holding mock elections.
As young white boys abandon morality and truth for the possibility of victory, use social media to mock and attack their opponents, and feed on unspoken but all too visible racism, they seem one short step away from the politicians a little further down the road today, fostering the “big lie” that the presidential election was stolen by the illegal votes.
Watching these future leaders of America from my home in Timor-Leste, one of the poorest nations in Asia, was devastating. There is not a country that has not felt the impact of the Trump years in American politics, and the hardening of so many American voters as they turned away from their own humanity. Apparently, all it takes to win an election in the United States today is appealing to the worst in ourselves.
But, as always, even the worst portrayal of American politics is not complete without the light of hope.
I have some personal experience in this. In 1975, my country was occupied by Indonesia, an illegal occupation carried out with the blessing of Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford. Over 24 years of occupation, one-third of our population was killed, as part of the Cold War strategy to supposedly stop the threat of communism in Asia (though we were not communist).
During the occupation I lived in exile, mostly in the U.S., working with the United Nations to end the occupation and return our country to democracy. During this time I traveled across the U.S., getting a closer view of the country than most of its own citizens ever see. I marveled continuously at the contradiction of American idealism and its adulation of guns and violence.
Timor-Leste (then East Timor) appeared to have been shrugged off as a casualty of the Cold War by pragmatic White House administrations. But members of the U.S. Congress eventually worked with sincerity to uphold American principles, including the rule of law, to our struggle for survival and independence. We eventually received vital support, and hope, from American senators and representatives on both sides of the aisle, including Ted and Patrick Kennedy, Tom Harkin, Nancy Pelosi, Nita Lowey, Tony Hall, Frank Wolf, Jack Reed, Patrick Leahy, and Joe Biden.
In the film Boys State, two students of color provide the same kind of hope for the future. When the camp is split into two parties, the Federalists and the Nationalists, a Black gay young man, René Otero, is chosen as the party chair for the Nationalists. He survives an impeachment attempt in the face of racist caricatures being circulated on Instagram from the opposing party. He would reveal later in a New York Times op-ed that he received anonymous phone calls threatening “a lynching,” and overhead racists jokes from fellow campers while in a bathroom stall. Throughout the film, he never loses his dignity.
The focus of the film is the election for Governor. Steven Garza, the candidate put forth by the Nationalists, is the son of Mexican immigrants who arrives at camp wearing a Beto O’Rourke T-shirt. Soft spoken and humble, when attacked for his earlier participation in a gun control rally, he does not attack back, but quietly attempts to explain why background checks make sense. In the end, he loses the election. But at the end of the film, the impact he has made on everyone is clear.
From the Boys State program, Garza goes on to speak at the Texas Democratic National Convention, to be interviewed by media outlets across the U.S.; he appeared on Bill Clinton’s podcast, “Why Am I Telling You This?” discussing the Boys State program (Clinton is also an alum), and the state of American politics. While the Boys State election “winners” have faded from view, Otero has also been widely profiled in the media and has written for The New York Times.
Boy's State shows us that pragmatism over morality, skillful manipulation of the media and playing to our lowest common denominators will be a part of American politics for many years to come. So will idealism, and adherence to the fundamental American values of equality and the right to the pursuit of happiness for all.
While eyes are on the next presidential election, we should not miss the fact that the education and engagement of American youth today will have a profound impact on the future of the country and the shape of our world.
José Ramos-Horta is the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former President of Timor-Leste.
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