Assault on democracy in Washington, DC
By Jeanne Allen
“For nearly four decades,
we have had the privilege to
engage in the most important
debates in Washington, DC
and throughout the United
States. The teams and directors
of the Center for Education
Reform have always been
diverse and representative of
all political parties. We have
all worked for and with people
of different ideologies. We
have witnessed political fights
that are often fierce. But they
have never been of the tenor
and rancor that we’ve seen in
recent years.
In the past, we saw opponents
from Tip O’Neill to Ronald
Reagan, from President
Bush to President Clinton,
come together when needed,
engage like champions, and
move on when they won, or
lost, to fight another day —
democratically. In the end,
the democratic process has
always prevailed.
Yesterday was different.
A riot engulfed our Capitol
and our country. Those who
sought to disrupt the peaceful
transfer of power weren’t
protestors. They were thugs,
incited by the sitting president,
Donald Trump. He has
failed in every respect to govern
this nation in its most
trying times. He nearly toppled
the checks and balances
that are the hallmark of the
United States; he has seeded
distrust in the workings of
this the best nation on earth.
This is a terrible lesson for our
children.
In the emotional and heated
events of the day, as we all
watched in horror, I did what
many were doing — I reacted
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police, during a rally
to contest the certifi cation of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress,
in Washington, U.S, Jan. 6, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
in real time on social media. I
wrote:
‘The President needs to get
to the Capitol and call them
off or the Congress needs to
vote to remove him immediately.
Those are the only two
options that fit into the rule
of law in our Republic.’
I shared many other
thoughts with others in solidarity
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against what was happening.
However, I also made a mistake.
I took an uncorroborated
photo of two thugs that was
shared with me by a credible
source and posted it, without
fact checking. The photo
indicated that two individuals
representing the controversial
group Antifa were part of the
rioting. They were not, and
I was summarily villified on
Twitter.
I tried to explain. I apologized.
I removed the picture.
It was a mistake, and I admit
it.
In my being chastised,
however, the reputation and
longstanding, well-respected
work of the Center for Education
Reform (CER) began
to be attacked. My mistake
upset many of our respected
colleagues, but it also fueled
the fire of the opponents of
education opportunity — as
if I or CER actually condones
the immoral actions of yesterday
or are sympathetic to
that “cause.” Anyone who
has known me, CER, and our
work knows that nothing is
further from the truth.
It’s regrettable that when
our nation is so torn that
some take pleasure in exploiting
a mistake. I regret the
posting and want the perpetrators
of the Capitol identified
and punished and our
nation to reject their horrid
beliefs. But this is not about
me. What happened yesterday
hurt our country, which is
more important than any one
person.
That’s the mistake Donald
Trump has made continually
and which has incited hatred.
Most Americans are good,
decent people. They may have
different ideas, values, and
approaches on how to make
our country work for all and
to deliver on the promise of
the founding — the promise
of a more perfect union. But
disagreement should never
devolve into rioting or looting.
As then-candidate Joe Biden
said in August, in the wake of
national unrest, violence is
an affront to the tactics of
civil rights leaders like Martin
Luther King Jr.:
‘I want to be very clear
about all of this: Rioting is
not protesting. Looting is not
protesting. Setting fires is not
protesting. None of this is protesting.
It’s lawlessness, plain
and simple. And those who do
it should be prosecuted. Violence
will not bring change,
it will only bring destruction.
It’s wrong in every way.’
We could not agree more
with the President-elect, then
or now.
That we the people can no
longer debate or argue without
personal animus is a byproduct
of our recent political history.
It’s within our power to
restore civility and reasonable
disagreement. That is the primary
goal of education —
to both inform and develop
the mind, and the ability to
process and advance knowledge.
We are deeply committed
to working alongside
the Biden Administration on
the education and unity that
America so urgently needs.
We must today rise above
the falsehoods, innuendo,
attacks, and hatred that have
dominated too many of our
forums for too long. If we do,
we can find a way together
to eradicate inequity, inequality,
and injustice. That’s the
focus of CER’s commitment to
advancing education opportunity.
And we will unapologetically
and forcefully continue
to shout that from the
rooftops and influence its
adoption no matter what.
We will make mistakes. I
will make mistakes. It’s part
of life. So is forgiveness.
Remember: Our children are
watching. May God bless them
all.”
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