VETERANS DAY 2019: More photos of the 60th annual Delaware County Veterans Parade
On what was without question a historic election day in Delaware County, two accomplishments stand out.
“Women make up half the population and how can you trust that people that don’t know your experiences or share your values are going to make the right decisions for you. That’s not representative government, that’s a dictatorship. For decades now, over a century, people of color and women have fought and are still fighting to be equally represented in government. We need to see that.”
— Dr. Monica Taylor, the first African-American – man or woman – elected to Delaware County Council.
Two landmark victories that were a long time coming. Too long, if we’re honest with each other.
While county Democrats were once again running the board, claiming victory in three races for seats on County Council, the District Attorney’s Office, and four seats on the county Court of Common Pleas, two achievements clearly stand out.
While voters were turning Delco’s political world on its head, two women posted momentous victories.
Two African-American women. In a massive first for women and citizens of color, Dr. Monica Taylor became the first African-American – man or woman – elected to Delaware County Council.
Nusrat Rashid became the first African-American woman elected to the county Court of Common Pleas. And she is in line to become the first Muslim elected to the bench in the state of Pennsylvania.
That is what you call historic. We’d also call it long overdue. The significance of this accomplishment was not lost on either one of these women, both of whom focused on something that many of us likely take for granted.
That would be that our governmental bodies, and the judges who interpret the laws and mete out justice, should be representative of our society.
For far too long, in Delaware County, that simply has not been the case. According to the latest U.S. Census figures, 22.4 percent of Delaware County’s 564,751 residents is percent African-American.
But until Tuesday, exactly 0 percent of Delaware County Council was African-American. And not just now. Every. There has never been a black citizen elected to the county’s ruling body.
Two years ago, Jerry Sanders made some history by becoming the first African-American to win a county row office when he was elected sheriff. But until last Tuesday, with victories by Taylor and her two fellow female Democrats, a black person had never been part of the county’s ruling body, the group that handles all those contracts, and all those jobs.
Likewise, while several black men – as well as several women have donned the robes and sat on the Delaware County bench, the bench has never included a black woman. In the process of shattering that barrier, Nusrat Rashid also made statewide history, becoming the first woman elected as a judge in Pennsylvania.
Taylor, a college professor and member of the Upper Darby School Board, summed up the achievement fairly succinctly.
“Government should represent the people,” she said. “If the government does not look like the people, the people will not trust it.
Until this point, African-American citizens who went before County Council, or who appeared before a Delco judge, did not see someone who looked like them. That’s a problem.
Taylor also expressed a similar sentiment when it comes to women, and why the victories by three women to County Council are so momentous.
“Women make up half the population and how can you trust that people that don’t know your experiences or share your values are going to make the right decisions for you,” she said. “That’s not representative government, that’s a dictatorship. For decades now, over a century, people of color and women have fought and are still fighting to be equally represented in government. We need to see that.”
They need to see it on the bench, in the county’s courtrooms, as well.
Beginning in January, they will. Her name is Nusrat Rashid.
“Diversity on the bench, specifically racial diversity on the bench, not only increases public trust and confidence, but it can balance out and improve and enhance judicial decision-making.
Rashid did not take the traditional path to the Delco bench. She did not serve in the District Attorney’s Office, or work for a high-profile firm. She attended Swarthmore College and got her law degree from Temple University. After working a decade in personal injury law, she opened her own criminal defense and family law practice in Chester. Her office remains in the city.
“I have a really personal connection with the struggles of black people in this country,” Rashid said. “I feel like attaining this position could be an example to people of all demographics, regardless of what they are.”
She also is very much cognizant of her status as the first Muslim elected to the bench in Pennsylvania.
“As a Muslim, I believe in justice,” Rashid said. “I believe in empathy. I believe in compassion and I believe in forgiveness. I also believe in accountability, personal responsibility and free will.”
We recounted their historic elections on Sunday’s front page with a single world. Trailblazers.
Seems about right. We congratulate these two trailblazers for knocking down barriers that have stood in this county for far too long.