Tuesday | October 13, 2020
So much is at stake in the 2020 election; our lives, livelihoods and human decency are all on the ballot. In the face of the pandemic, science has been politicized, and students, educators and communities have been put at risk. On top of that, the norms and values that undergird our democracy also have been put at risk. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our fight to protect the right of all Americans to vote, to have every vote counted and to respect the choice of American voters.
You are encouraged to read the special Fall issue of the AFT’s American Educator magazine. The webinar featured a number of speakers whose articles are included in this issue, which is also titled “Saving Our Democracy.” Former U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. explains how gerrymandering and voter ID laws have overwhelmingly affected people of color and people with lower incomes. Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt examine how extreme polarization—stemming from the two main political parties diverging on racial and cultural identity—is tearing our country apart. And Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive officer of PEN America, a human rights and free expression organization, talks about ways to speak, listen and protest without silencing others. AFT President Randi Weingarten moderated the discussion.