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| Yesterday's Events at the Capitol |
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Dear friends of the Carr Center,
Yesterday’s events in Washington D.C. are cause for deep concern for all Americans, irrespective of political affiliations and preferences. The sustainability of democratic governance is at stake domestically and around the world. We all must unequivocally condemn the incitement of violence by a sitting U.S. President and the mob violence in the Capitol. We must also hold accountable public and private institutions—whether systems of policing or social media behemoths—when they enable the perpetuation of plain lies, disinformation, and violence.
One of the many troubling aspects of this administration has been the breakdown of respectful and truthful political discourse. And here, not only the President but many members of his party must be held to account. Some members of Congress have perpetuated baseless allegations of voter fraud when the claims are known and proven to be false. They have failed their responsibility to help their constituents see through the President’s web of lies and then later presented themselves as advocates of the people—insisting their misguided beliefs be taken seriously. Elected representatives have attempted to discount the votes of millions of Americans, very often those communities who have been historically disenfranchised and whose vote has been suppressed—effectively undermining democracy when they disagree with its outcomes. Calls for “law and order” have been applied selectively to suppress Black Lives Matter's peaceful protests while allowing armed mobs to roam the nation’s Capitol freely. Unfortunately, the comparisons to Nazi-Germany are well-taken, a society in which all too many people who knew better bent their souls to comply with a despicable regime. Political debate drowns in disinformation, discreditation, and studied indignation—all of which ultimately has resulted in violence.
Among those who have enabled this despicable president and ruthlessly pushed their own agendas amidst all this disinformation, we find highly educated people, many with Ivy-league educations no less. This should make all of us pause and think deeply about what role universities, especially top universities, play in this society. We must all do better.
We must denounce yesterday’s events and the centuries of oppression that are very much reflected within, while we look forward to building a more just, peaceful, and inclusive democracy.
Sincerely,
Mathias Risse and Sushma Raman
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