Near the end of my book, Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual For Keeping A Democracy, I wrote about a national holiday you may have never heard of, Law Day. Civil Discourse readers may be familiar with it, because I’ve referred to it in the past, and of course, those of you who’ve already read the book know. Law Day is important to me because of its history, but also because of what it could become in our country. I’m frequently asked by people who care about democracy, “What can I do?” It’s perhaps the most important question, one I ask myself frequently to try and make sure I’m doing the right thing at the right time. Today, on Law Day Eve, which is also this year, the day before the general strike Indivisible is calling for tomorrow, I wanted to share an excerpt from my book with you. We have to transform civics education in this country. I wrote about how Law Day can help us get started, and it’s something all of us can participate in.
Here is what I wrote in my book: Every year on May 1, Law Day is observed nationwide. It’s a celebration of the rule of law, a day for lawyers to reach out and provide civics education in their communities. Law Day was the brainchild of American Bar Association President Charles S. Rhyne and was established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958. Eisenhower wrote in his proclamation, “I urge the people of the United States to observe the designated day with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and I especially urge the legal profession, the press and the radio, television and motion picture industries to promote and to participate in the observance of that day.” That’s what has happened ever since. The American Bar Association holds high-level gatherings. State bars across the country hold events. Thousands of lawyers speak to students about the importance of the rule of law. Some courts and community groups join in. It’s a day devoted to spreading understanding about what it means to have a government under law. Lawyers tell students stories about their cases and their work in and out of court. It’s not enough, just that one day. But it’s the right idea. What we really need is to have Law Day every day. We need a culture where the rule of law is understood and respected so it can flourish again. The only reason “it’s about the economy, stupid” rang true is because up until now, we’ve been able to take the continued existence of democracy for granted. Lawyers can start this work, although ultimately, we should all take responsibility for it. Lawyers take an oath when they are admitted to the bar, and although the precise language varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it includes a promise to uphold the Constitution and our laws. What better way to do that than by recommitting to civics education in troubled times? Let me tell you about a conversation I had with my youngest child, who was born in 2002. He was a college senior at the time. What would it take, I wondered, to get people like him—smart, well educated, possibly more interested in football and video games than politics, but decent, caring people—to want to read a book about saving democracy? He listened to my question, smiled patiently, and explained that as long as he had been alive, there hadn’t been a real democracy, that people with power and influence controlled everything. Why shouldn’t he try to make it better? I asked him. “I know I’m a know-nothing twenty-two-year-old,” he said. “What can I do against the power of Congress and caucuses? It makes me angry. It feels like an insult when you tell us to stand up and do something. The opposition is millionaire congressmen with connections, even on the state level.” That pulled me up short. For the first time, I understood that his generation lacked the attachment to democracy mine has. Even people who weren’t fully included in democracy could understand its promise when I was his age, and they wanted it for themselves. But many younger people don’t feel the moral imperative to save democracy in their bones like we do, because their experience of it has been different. It’s not all young people, but it is enough of them. When I asked him about making it better, he told me, “Protests don’t work. That’s something your generation thinks. I was four when Occupy Wall Street happened. Nothing has changed since.” How can he value democracy when his first decade of political awareness has largely consisted of watching a president who doesn’t believe in it, and being taunted by courts and a Congress that won’t fight for it? I’m not certain his views have changed yet, but I know he’s watching the protests with interest and with more than a little hope. His generation needs more than history lessons. We have to be candid with them about the flaws that have emerged in our democracy if we’re going to rebuild stronger. We have to set high expectations for how a functioning democracy should operate—expectations that don’t leave room for kleptocracy (government by the corrupt) or kakistocracy (government in the hands of the grossly incompetent). The Founding Fathers set high standards. We should insist upon them. Younger generations believe democracy has failed them, and they don’t believe it can be fixed because they’ve never seen it happen. Dictators are propaganda lords. They are singularly talented at persuading people who have become complacent about the value of democracy in their lives that there are no consequences to losing it. They are masters of making promises they can’t keep and walking away from them without consequence when the truth comes to light. They are skilled at exploiting economic and social unrest and political dissatisfaction. Ultimately, the only way a dictator can hold power is by controlling the flow of information and resorting to the spread of disinformation that serves his purposes and permits him to retain authority. Education about country and Constitution—simple, easy to do over an afternoon snack or a family dinner as well as in the classroom—is an important part of the path forward. Education is an antidote to the creeping sickness that lets too many in our country turn a blind eye to inconsistency and hypocrisy and, in doing so, makes autocracy possible, even plausible. We owe it to our kids. …It comes down to creating a culture where knowledge about democracy and how our form of government functions is the norm. Hands-on experience with democracy is essential. That’s our road map for getting civics education right. We need to be a country of lifetime civics learners. Originally, Law Day came about both because Charles Rhyne saw the timeless value of the rule of law…Decades later, in a speech he gave on Law Day in May 2000, Rhyne, who was by then in his late eighties, told the story of how Law Day came to pass. According to Rhyne, President Eisenhower’s chief of staff, Sherman Adams, was mortally opposed to having his boss sign anything “praising lawyers.” Rhyne explained he got around that by walking out of Adams’s office and straight down the hall into the Oval Office (it was a different era!) for a second opinion. The President held his hand up for silence until he had read the entire document. Then he said, “Sherm, this Proclamation does not contain one word praising lawyers. It praises our constitutional system of government, our great heritage under the rule of law, and asks our people to stand up and praise what they have created. I like it and I am going to sign it.” And he did. Rhyne closed his speech by issuing a challenge. He said he hoped that Law Day could provide an opportunity to “explore ways in which not only the Internet, but also other new technologies, can make more law more readily available to those who need it.” …We should take up Rhyne’s challenge and use technology to make accurate information about the rule of law and democracy accessible. Bar associations can expand the concept of Law Day and become full-time lawyers for democracy who use their profession as an opportunity to take on responsibility for educating the public. Democracy isn’t a continuously turning waterwheel that continues to deliver no matter what we do. It requires care and fine-tuning. And most of all, it requires people who know it and people who love it. …Fascism’s Achilles heel is citizen power. Don’t give up hope. Pick one small thing you can do this week and get started. I’ll be back tonight with the piece about Callais I’m working on. But I wanted to share Law Day with you this morning because tomorrow we have a special ability to exercise our power as citizens of the United States and to lift our voices together, just days after the Supreme Court tried to crush what’s left of the Voting Rights Act. For me, writing Civil Discourse is a daily exercise in civics education, and I appreciate those of you who are here with me. Your support for the newsletter is essential. It wouldn’t exist without you. We’re in this together, Joyce You're currently a free subscriber to Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance . For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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