Dear John,
Yesterday, historian and Boston College Professor Heather Cox Richardson wrote movingly of the final moments of the passengers on Flight 93. Thirty-three people got on a plane that morning, likely thinking about the day ahead when they landed in San Francisco. Instead, they, along with flight crew members, made a group decision to protect countless strangers working in a symbolic American building from the same brutal deaths that had just occurred at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, knowing the grim fate they would face in mere minutes.
Professor Richardson's reflection on the heroism of those individuals, coming together at that terrifying time, speaks to this moment we are facing as a country. She then noted that, notwithstanding the unity that followed the immediate aftermath of that significant day in American history, the country experienced two decades of increased efforts to stifle democracy. State voter suppression laws, excessive gerrymandering, and Supreme Court decisions that gutted the Voting Rights Act and allowed the flow of anonymous corporate donors to pour into election campaigns led to the deeply anti-democratic path we are on today.
Throughout history, there are inflection points. But we cannot measure their impact by how the nation responds in the mere days or weeks that follow consequential events. We measure these moments by whether, over time, the result is more planned chaos, more efforts to deny people freedom, and more erosion of our rights, or whether there is a collective ability to step back, look over the precipice, and choose another path.
We have that choice. The media has that choice. The voices on social media have that choice. We do not have to give platforms to those that seek to repress the rights of others who think differently than they do, nor should we serve as bystanders while immigrant communities are forced to live in terror. We can insist on a government that recognizes that we are a country of many religions and that all individuals have the right to live freely. Hard-won rights should not be eliminated by the loudest group in the room who does not represent the beliefs of most Americans.
When the story of our time is told by future brilliant historians like Professor Richardson, may it be that we saw how close we were to that precipice, and united to make a different choice.
As we all educate ourselves on the measures being taken to undermine the critical American right to vote, LDAD is sharing the newest addition to our series in the Fulcrum, written by LDAD volunteer and 35-year veteran of federal government service, Ellen R. Hornstein, on the dangers of the voter suppression efforts underway.
Thank you,
Lawyers Defending American Democracy
P.S. We are living in extraordinary times that require constant advocacy to reverse the significant democratic backsliding that we are experiencing. LDAD’s work depends on individual contributions like yours. Please join us in our efforts by donating to LDAD, a 501(c)(3) organization.
