World Review Democracy 2020: an Opinion Section
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.. THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION SATURDAY-SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10-11, 2020 | S1 World Review Democracy 2020: An Opinion Section A farewell to norms and a challenge for the future ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN STAUFFER A pandemic has altered our lives and exposed our divisions. But democracy, never static, must evolve in order to flourish. press as the enemy. BY SERGE SCHMEMANN There is no certainty of triumph on “These are the times that try men’s any of these fronts. Each is a battle that souls,” wrote Thomas Paine in the heat requires engagement, sacrifice and a of the American Revolution, and the willingness to change. Heraclitus, the temptation today might be to respond ancient Greek philosopher, is believed Serge Schmemann with a weary: “Tell me about it.” to have declared: “No man ever steps in is a member of the Despots flourish; dissidents are dis- the same river twice, for it’s not the New York Times membered or poisoned; the president editorial board and same river and he’s not the same man.” program director of of the world’s premier democracy is im- This continual change, he argued, was the Athens Democra- mune to shame or truth; infernos set the natural way of the world. What is cy Forum. off by a changing climate lay waste to unnatural is to resist change, to cling to the American West Coast; Hong the illusion that there is some safe, un- Kong’s freedoms are curtailed; and a changing world that we must forever lowly, spiked virus suddenly erupts defend. onto the world, sowing death and eco- That was the thinking behind the nomic destruction and radically alter- theme of this year’s Athens Democracy ing the most fundamental aspects of Forum, “The New Abnormal: Reimag- human behavior. ining Democracy,” and behind the arti- And yet, as Paine and many others cles on these pages. Whether it’s Farida who have commented on periods of Nabourema writing about resistance to hardship and suffering have argued, it the dictatorship in Togo, or Patrisse is trying times like these that most Cullors on the broad ramifications of clearly identify the wrongs in how the the Black Lives Matter movement, or world is run and separate the best from Nathan Law writing about the struggle the worst in our midst. in Hong Kong, these are testaments to The response to the Covid-19 pan- the determination and creativity of demic has clearly shown the difference people prepared to challenge forces between good leadership and lowly op- that appear indomitable and unyield- portunism; good science and quackery. ing. The response to the death of George Democracy is not a static concept Floyd, a Black man, beneath the knee but an ever-changing, ever-evolving of a white police officer has galvanized way of life that requires far more effort a tide of anguished outrage. Marchers and courage than the casting of an oc- in Belarus have demonstrated, once casional ballot or indulgence in the odd again, that there always comes a time rant about feckless politicians. These when people can take no more dictator- have been the watchwords of the annu- ship. al Athens Democracy Forum since its “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily con- inception, and it defined the agenda of quered,” Paine continued; “yet we have this year’s largely virtual eighth forum, this consolation with us, that the hard- which was held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 and er the conflict, the more glorious the tri- whose highlights can be seen at umph.” It is a comforting thought, but athensdemocracyforum.org. not fully convincing when humankind The troubled waters we are passing is so radically divided on most any is- through may be far different from sue; when even something as elemen- Paine’s, and the people stepping in tal as wearing a mask during a pan- them have already come a long way, demic might provoke a violent con- but the choice is unchanged. “By perse- frontation; when authoritarian leaders verance and fortitude we have the openly champion “illiberal democra- prospect of a glorious issue,” Paine con- cy”; when President Trump routinely cluded; “by cowardice and submission, challenges science and treats a free the sad choice of a variety of evils.” .. S2 | SATURDAY-SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10-11, 2020 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION World Review Without the right to protest, America will fail Black Americans have fought for our country, sure that all voices are heard. For our demo- cratic experiment to survive, we must per- even when we’ve been denied our rights petually evolve our approach to demanding accountability and transparency from our governments and elected officials. Ameri- BY PATRISSE CULLORS ca’s political leaders, chosen by us, are re- sponsible — first and foremost — for listen- “To sin by silence, when we should protest, / ing and responding to our cries for hope, Makes cowards of men” sounds like a slogan freedom and liberation. On paper, this is from any of the innumerable Black Lives America’s deepest commitment to its peo- Matter marches that have erupted around ple. the world this year. A contemporary reading The Black Lives Matter movement has might be distilled to: #ProtestMatters. The deep roots in the past and a promising fu- quote’s source? The poet Ella Wheeler ture. The outsize international, national and Patrisse Cullors is a Wilcox, whose poem “Protest” was pub- state-level responses to weeks of peaceful co-founder of the lished in 1914. protests following the death of George Floyd Black Lives Matter Protest is the foundational variable of the — with demonstrations in Minneapolis and Global Network. American experiment. Every pivot point in London, Madrid and Seoul, Sydney and Rio the history of our country is rooted in it. de Janeiro — reinforced a truth we have al- From the Boston Tea Party of 1773 to the ways known: Protests matter, and they Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s immortal “I have the power to change both legislation Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Me- and the course of history. morial in 1963, a nation “of the people, by the Each day this summer, as the number of people” is only as robust and defensible as protesters grew around the world, I gained its protections of the right to protest. hope for our future. Hope for our country. Protests led by Black Americans, though Hope for our children, and for our world. Be- often unrecognized, have been particularly cause as our words and our work created a crucial to every great political movement in global groundswell, many of the crystalline this country. From Crispus Attucks (the first calls to action we directed at high-level lead- martyr of the Revolutionary War) to Ida B. ers were answered. Police budgets were Wells and the Black suffragists fighting for slashed. Chokeholds and tear gas were women’s right to vote, Black and brown peo- banned. Racist cops were suspended with- ple have always protested for comprehen- TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES out pay, fired and charged for their crimes. sive systemic change and freedom for all A new generation of protesters is adopting new approaches to highlight the urgency of their causes. Legislation was introduced to prohibit Americans, even when they’ve been denied states from buying military-grade equip- freedom themselves. ment from the federal government. Repara- There is a humorless irony here, and a po- tions to victims’ families were issued. tent reminder for every self-defined “pa- All such protests rely on a core assump- As the Black Lives Matter movement con- triot” who decries the “looting and rioting” tinues to grow, I ask that anyone proud to be Are calls for “nonviolence” seeking tion: that societies believe in — and univer- of this past summer. The ideals of life and sally agree to abide by — shared social con- part of (or hoping to join) our ever-evolving liberty that our nation holds dear — and the solutions or demanding silence? tracts. Thus, “(if) the violations of law by the country continue to educate themselves on landmark moments in our history that have white man in the slums over the years were both the roots of and the reasoning behind helped more fully to realize those ideals — calculated and compared with the lawbreak- calls for “nonviolence.” Are such calls seek- were shaped and won by the protests and emergent resistance movements. When Dr. the next generation of Black freedom fight- ing of a few days of riots,” Dr. King ulti- ing solutions, or are they demanding silence sacrifices of Black Americans. Protests and King famously reminded America that “a ers adopted new approaches to highlighting mately concluded, “the hardened criminal from protesters? sacrifices not so different from those being riot is the language of the unheard,” he was the urgency of their cause. But by then, Dr. would be the white man.” Dr. King recog- To our neighbors, our allies and our denounced today. acknowledging the depth of tension threat- King’s stance on riots had evolved. He char- nized, in other words, that the real looters elected officials: Take note of what matters Those unfamiliar with “no justice, no ening to further divide our nation — be- acterized their vehemence as a necessary were the people devaluing Black bodies. most to your communities. Remember that, peace,” the oft-used mantra of the protest tween the landmark successes of the nonvi- component within an overarching system of Then as today, the root of our nation’s resist- with each act of protest on behalf of Black movement that arose in 2020, should first olent civil rights movement he had become effective political protest and began calling ance to anything resembling “violence” ac- Americans, we are, as we have always been, look to the lineage and legacy of nonviolent the face of, and the ruinous social and eco- these riots “durable social phenomena.” In companying Black political expression lies protesting for your rights as much as for our protest in the United States.