Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds Designation of New National Civil Rights Monuments
WASHINGTON—Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s use of the Antiquities Act to designate three new national monuments honoring and preserving our country’s civil rights history:
“These new monuments commemorate important events in our nation’s history and are essential to preserving and telling the story of the critical struggle for civil rights that continues to this day. No one can truly understand the full dimensions of the issues we face in the 21st century without understanding the events and the lessons of the Reconstruction period and of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The recognition of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and the Freedom Riders National Monument in Alabama, and of the Reconstruction Era National Monument in South Carolina, is even more appropriate as our nation pauses this week to reflect on the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the unfinished business that remains to make America as good as its ideals.
The monuments also bring much needed diversity to our national parks system for the benefit of every person who visits them. To continue this work, it’s important that Congress continue to support the Antiquities Act so that future presidents will be able to work with communities to protect important historic, cultural, and natural areas. These monuments are gifts of tribute and truth, and moving forward, we must work to protect them as such.”
Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
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