For Release: January 7, 2021
Contact: Dorie Turner Nolt, 404.861.1127, dturnernolt@all4ed.org
Washington, D.C. — “Yesterday’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol shows us how much work is required to heal from the last four years so that we can move our country forward and stop the hatred and divisiveness that has been supported from the highest office in our land. It also laid bare the inherent racism in how police approach white mobs in this country. The largely peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstrators this summer repeatedly saw a much more violent and expansive response from law enforcement. The people who acted so repugnantly yesterday, and those who support and encourage them, are destroying our country, and we must do everything in our power to make sure they do not win. By electing its first Black senator, Georgia shows us that change is possible, and that democracy must be protected. As educators we must work to ensure that every student understands that free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy and that yesterday’s riot was not an attempt to protect that foundation but to upend it. I will fight alongside the new Biden-Harris administration and the new Congress to rebuild this country with a focus on equity for all, particularly for those who have long been met with racism and hatred. We simply cannot stand by and allow radicals to ruin our institutions nor our work for social justice and democracy. All of America’s youth deserve a better future, and that future is defined by our responses to yesterday—and all of our future actions.”
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Deborah S. Delisle is the president and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education and served as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education from 2012 to 2015.
The Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed) is a Washington, DC–based national policy, practice, and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those underperforming and those historically underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship. All4ed.org
