Crisis as Opportunity: Responding to the Pandemic, Systemic Racism and Threats to Our Democracy
Rolando T. Acosta, Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, writes that we must be committed to seeing the opportunity that lies within every crisis and making the changes that are sorely needed.
January 15, 2021 at 02:21 PM
9 minute read
2020 was a year of tremendous tragedy and challenge, and this year began ominously, with a lawless mob storming the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the democratic process. A string of seemingly unending and unthinkable crises has tested our institutions and our resolve, laying bare harsh truths about our social compact and the many weaknesses, deficiencies, and injustices that persist in all areas of our government, including the judicial branch. We have been forced to confront the fragility of our society and to constantly remind ourselves that societal norms are threatened when people (with or without justification) feel disenfranchised, ignored and powerless. It is difficult to talk of "bright spots" in the throes of a pandemic that has killed millions of our fellow human beings—including my father—or "silver linings" in the continuing string of deaths of people of color at the hands of those sworn to protect. Nonetheless, we can find some comfort in the strength of our courts in the face of injustice, a public health crisis, and the barrage of dangerous nonsense that flooded the court system and threatened our democracy. I see cause for optimism as we enter 2021. I do not delude myself that everything is and happens for the best, but I am hopeful, based on our willingness and ability to improve, that we can make a hard-edged, realistic assessment of our flaws and take concrete steps to address them. For in a crisis, we can forge opportunities.
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