Silence is NOT an Option

As two recently minted octogenarians, one Black and one White, we have spent our lives working for a more equitable and inclusive America. We have lived long enough to see changes our younger selves could scarcely imagine, and to know that progress is neither inevitable nor self-sustaining.

Today, we are troubled by attacks on the values and institutions that anchor democracy. Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are being dismantled. Cruelty, vulgarity, and disinformation are used to debase our national project. Haitian immigrants have lost Temporary Protected Status. Immigrants are held without trial, adequate medical care, or access to loved ones. Constitutional limits on executive power are tested daily, including the recent efforts to stifle the freedom of the press.

Equally troubling is the silence of too many in Congress, business, universities, and other positions of influence. Silence may feel safe, but history reminds us of its deferred cost.

We are friends shaped by lives devoted to justice. One of us grew up in the segregated Arkansas Delta, where his parents paid a poll tax to vote. The other grew up in Indiana, where routines reflected de facto segregation and nonwhite residents in “sundown towns” faced danger sanctioned by officials. We remember when opportunity was closed by law and custom—and when courageous people pushed those doors open.

At 80, it might be tempting to leave this struggle to another generation. We choose not to be silent, because democracy has never been a spectator sport, and citizenship has no retirement plan. Our words, actions, and votes can help shape the world future generations will inherit.

We must question, speak out against dissembling and deceit, and hold institutions and their leaders accountable. We must speak, and we must vote.

Our votes have value, just like our voices. We owe it to those who paved the way, some with their lives, and to those who will come after us.

Silence has a sound, but so does courage. May our voices, joined with millions of others, be powerful enough to let freedom ring.

Philip Amerson
President Emeritus, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Charlie Nelms
Chancellor Emeritus, North Carolina Central University

Letter to editor to several press outlets, September 22, 2026