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ANSWERING DEMOCRACY'S CALL
By Alfred P. Carlton, Jr., President, American Bar Association
Submitted fall, 2002
This fall, as we are peppered with replays of the hideous scenes
of evil perpetrated upon our country last year, we pause to celebrate
the lives of those lost forever. We honor their memory and their
sacrifice, and we express gratitude for the thousands of organized
and spontaneous acts of kindness and courage shown by people all
over the world.
We have shown our determination and the steely resolve to bounce
back. We have accepted the certain knowledge of just how precious
each moment can be. We have experienced at a new level our lives,
our loving families, our challenging work, our public discourse
and yes, thank God, our form of government.
While the military response continues abroad, and while public
safety measures are put in place at home to protect us from the
further outrages we unfortunately are told to expect, it is time
to consider what response the ordinary citizen can make to this
unspeakable assault upon our way of life.
How can the citizens of this great democracy respond to such an
attack on our very core values and right to exist? I suggest that
we rededicate ourselves to our democracy by taking advantage of
one of the most empowering rights of a free society and participating
in one of its most basic rituals - Americans can vote.
It is with this idea in mind that the American Bar Association
on this 9/11elected to cosponsor Freedom's Answer, the citizen involvement
response to those who want to destroy our democracy.
Freedom's Answer, a project of Youth E-Vote, a 501(c)(3) charitable
organization, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign being led by
high school students this fall to maximize voter turnout in federal
elections. Its goal for 2002 - to achieve the largest-ever voter
turnout in a non-presidential year as an unmistakable message to
the world that America and freedom are alive and well. Starting
this 9/11, America's high school students began recruiting their
parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends to pledge to vote to
honor America's servicemen and women who are risking their lives
every day for our freedom, including our right to vote. Ask your
principal to be sure your local high school takes part.
I encourage all Americans to take these lessons learned from 9/11,
to harness the energy and determination we each feel in response
to this assault on our fundamental values and apply that energy
to improving the democracy of the United States of America. We can
do that in a variety of ways, and we can start by answering the
call of a project led by the nation's youth, Freedom's Answer. Register
and vote, America, and demonstrate to those who want to destroy
us just how strong and vibrant our democratic system can be.
Editor's: For verification contact Anne Nicholas, ABA Division
for Media Relations and Communication Services, 202/662-1092.
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