By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
There will be many challenges facing teenagers as adults, but they must commit themselves to serving the ideals of the United States of America — and it is up to every generation to make those ideals become a reality.
That was the message delivered by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker to nearly 1,000 high school juniors who participated in the American Legion Jersey Boys State program. He spoke to the boys — known as "statesmen" — at the program’s general assembly June 26.
The American Legion Boys State program, which has been held in New Jersey annually since 1946 and at Rider University since 1969, is a week-long program that teaches high school juniors about the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship.
Sen. Booker participated in the American Legion Jersey Boys State program as a high school junior in 1986.
"The point I want to make (is that) the lines that divide us as Americans — political party, race and religion — are nowhere near the ties that bind us as Americans. Whether we are first-generation Americans or we came over on the Mayflower, we share a common history," Sen. Booker said, jumping off the stage and wading into the rows of chairs occupied by the statesmen.
The senator said his parents made certain that he knew about his family’s history and their struggles to succeed as blacks in a white-dominated world. His father grew up in a single-parent household in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. People in the community raised money to send him to college.
Sen. Booker’s parents were among the first blacks to hold positions as executives at IBM, thanks to the help of others. They moved to New Jersey in connection with their jobs in the 1960s, and again were helped by others when they faced housing discrimination.
"My father told me, ‘You have so many advantages. You can be fat and happy, or you can serve the nation by serving others.’ That’s what began my career (in politics), but you don’t have to be an elected official (to make a difference)," said Sen. Booker.
"The best leaders are not the ones who divide us, but who unite us — who expand our moral imagination. More than ever, we need leadership. There are challenges facing the United States," the senator said.
The United States is falling behind in many areas, Sen. Booker said. It used to have one of the highest percentages of college graduates, and it used to lead the way in research and development. There has also been a decline in social mobility, he said.
The United States was founded on a set of ideals, and it is up to every generation to make those ideals a reality, Sen. Booker said. That vision should "ignite in you a desire to do greater things," rather than to sit back and find comfort, he said.
"I would rather be on a ship that sank at sea than (one that) rots in the harbor," Sen. Booker said. "You were born to stand out, not to fit in."
The senator told the statesmen about a woman he met early in his political career in Newark. She took him on a tour of the city and asked him what he saw. He told her that he saw a housing project and abandoned buildings. And the more he talked, he said, the more she shook her head.
When he asked her why she was shaking her head, she replied that "the world you see outside of you is a reflection on what is going on inside of you," Sen. Booker said. He did not reflect a positive vision, unlike she did.
"She had a positive vision. She did something every day to make it better. She was stubborn in her pursuit of that vision. She taught me about what you are able to do for others. You have a lot of work to do to make New Jersey and the United States live up to its potential," Sen. Booker told the statesmen.

