Colman McCarthy at New College

I had the opportunity to meet with, and listen to, veteran journalist and peace activist Colman McCarthy during his two days of appearances in Sarasota and Bradenton. McCarthy is well known from his days as a columnist for the Washington Post. On Thursday, November 1, he spoke with 300 students at Booker High School before heading over to New College for an informal conversation with the students there. He then spoke with a few of us at a reception, before finally addressing over a hundred citizens at the Sainer auditorium on the New College campus.
The title of his talk Thursday evening was "How to be an Effective Peacemaker." McCarthy reflected upon his time spent covering Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa. He pointed out that a journalist typically gets the most insightful responses at the end of an interview. The common message of peacemakers, he said, was to go to where the people are in order to solve conflict. McCarthy asked the audience how many people had taken a course in school on conflict resolution or peacemaking. Only one hand went up and it was that of a former student of his. McCarthy then offered one of his best known quotations: "Unless we teach our children peace, someone else will teach them violence." In the same vein, McCarthy pointed out that "It is much easier to raise a peaceful child than to reform a violent adult."
McCarthy now teaches courses at Georgetown law school, as well as at high schools throughout the Washington D.C. area. He related stories of taking his law students to women's shelters, to illustrate his point that "laws represent the failure of love, peace is the result of love." He also described bringing in the high school custodian from El Salvador to address the students who had previously treated her as invisible. McCarthy called upon the New College students to demand Peace Studies be offered at the school. Peace studies relates not just to the military, but to our private lives as well. The talk concluded with the obviously energized audience sharing their views on how we can all work together to build a more peaceful community.