The Leadership Conference Statement on the 2024 Election
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / LINK
Contact: [email protected]
WASHINGTON — Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement:
“Voters decided who will represent the people in the White House and in the Senate, and we are still awaiting final results for the House of Representatives. We praise the president for affirming his commitment to the peaceful transfer of power, and we congratulate election administrators, poll workers, poll monitors, and all who ensured that our elections continue to be trustworthy. At the same time, as the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalition that fought for and won passage of every major piece of civil rights legislation in this country since our founding in 1950, we are also clear that the consequences of this election cycle represent a clear and present danger to democracy, both in process and in substance. The process of voting is a civil right, and civil rights include the right for workers to organize, for families to see a doctor when they are sick, for women to get full health care, and so much more. Civil rights make up the foundation of our very democracy and form the policies of problem-solving and opportunity-building.
“There will be much analysis, punditry, and pugilism about this election cycle. We know we are not in a routine cycle of politics but in an era that mirrors the lash that struck the backs of Reconstructionists after slavery and that produced assassinations after the victories of the Second Reconstruction. We are committed to laying the foundation for a Third Reconstruction. We will start where we must — with the firm recognition that the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is the incoming plan, and that action begins now.
“With nearly 75 years of building bonds that bind beyond politics, we will not fall prey to the distractions of division but will take up the action of accountability and the hard work of repairing the fabric of multiracial coalition-building to save and expand a rights-rich democracy that solves our collective problems rather than inciting hate, violence, and exclusion.
“The Leadership Conference has always been central to the fight for democracy — we have never backed down from a fight, and we will not back down now. We will continue to expand the base of support across communities and experiences for our right to vote and inspire engagement on the issues central to this fight — from work that works for people, to a care economy that ensures care workers can also care for their families. We will continue to work to ensure that education is for all of us, and that from books to curriculum, it binds us rather than blinds us. We will continue to fight for a federal judiciary that is fair and accountable. We will continue to use our considerable platform to convene, communicate, coordinate, and educate the foot soldiers for freedom with the clear recognition that the roots of white supremacy have spread and are no longer underground runners — but the poisonous thorns have sprouted across this great land in full view and with significant permission.
“From convening to coalition-building to constructive confrontation and mobilization, we march on for an America that lives up to its ideals.”
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 240 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 member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.
###