‘Lead with Courage’

In a rousing address in Sweeney Hall, Smith alum, author, and civil rights champion Deborah Archer ’93 called for renewed efforts to make the inclusive promise of American democracy a reality for all.

“We the people means all of us, not just when it’s easy or polling well,” said Archer, who is a Smith Medalist and member of the Smith College Board of Trustees. “Democracy is on the line, but so is our humanity and our vision of American democracy.”

Archer, whose talk marked the first Presidential Colloquium of the academic year, is the first person of color to serve as president of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that has been defending free speech, due process, and other fundamental rights for more than 100 years.

In her welcoming remarks, Susan Molineaux, chair of the Smith board of trustees, noted that as a professor of clinical law, and faculty co-director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at New York University, Archer offers leadership needed for the current “moment of great uncertainty, when rights, for which so many of our forebears struggled, are being rolled back, and our work as educators and the populations we serve are under threat and attack.”

In her talk, Archer emphasized that democratic rights in America have historically come as the result of multiracial organizing. “The work has always been hard,” she said. “Our country has never lacked for inspiring promises, but the truth is, America is far better at making promises than keeping them.”

Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., who said that “the goal of America is freedom,” Archer acknowledged that “so much about our current moment leads us to question whether Dr. King was right.”

Yet, this is not a time for “moderate responses” to attacks on free speech or violations of due process, she added. “It’s time to rise up and lead with courage,” Archer said, “because everything is on the line.”

Attempts by the current administration in Washington to restrict or eliminate civil rights contain “a deeper and insidious message that some people are not worthy” of equality, Archer said.

Pulling back from efforts to make the American system more inclusive, therefore, is a strategy that risks harming not only individuals, but democracy itself. “You don’t strengthen democracy by abandoning communities that have always been on the front lines of fighting for democracy,” Archer said. “Every time we are told to make ourselves smaller, the people who pay the price are always the same.”

In a subsequent conversation onstage with Smith President Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Archer spoke about her upbringing as the child of Jamaican immigrants, her time at Smith, and her new book, Dividing Lines, about how racism has shaped American transportation infrastructure.

Her Smith experience was not always welcoming Archer said, noting that in her first semester on campus, a racist note was slipped under her door.

At the same time, she was able to “navigate those difficult moments and figure out how to act like I belonged. I learned those lessons here at Smith, in part, because of some of the challenges,” Archer said. “I’m back here on the board because I believe in Smith. It has helped position me to do good in the world.”

Asked about her work with the ACLU, Archer said her organization has filed some 200 legal challenges against the second Trump administration in defense of voting rights, free speech, and other civil liberties—and has been successful in 80% of them.

The ACLU, which is a nonpartisan organization, is also providing “know your rights” trainings and other support to community organizations working to protect vulnerable populations, including immigrants and LGBTQ+ communities.

In a closing question, Willie-LeBreton asked what role diversity plays in whether democracies rise or fall.

Archer replied that inclusion is fundamental to “closing the gap” between what the American system promises and what it delivers.

“A lesson from the moment we are in is that democracy is fragile and we have to fight to protect it,” she said. “Our responsibility is to get up every day and make sure we are fighting for an America that includes all of us.”