Civil Rights Organizations Demand Department of Justice and Civil Rights Division Uphold and Protect Civil Rights for All
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McNeil, [email protected]
WASHINGTON — The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 68 other organizations today wrote to the acting assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to sound the alarm about the department’s efforts to undermine the nation’s federal civil rights laws and to demand that the DOJ and Civil Rights Division advance — rather than corrode — civil rights protections under law.
“What this country and the American people need is a Department of Justice and a Civil Rights Division that uphold, protect, and defend civil and human rights for all — not a department and a division that are charged by the president and attorney general with actively undermining them,” the letter states.
The groups note that the division is weaponizing landmark civil rights statutes, like Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for its anti-civil rights agenda instead of using them for their intended purpose of combating discrimination, and they include several examples of how the division is attacking civil rights, abandoning its critical work, and failing to intervene when freedoms are under assault.
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights: “The Leadership Conference coalition fought for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which created the Civil Rights Division, and we refuse to be silent as DOJ leadership actively works to unravel civil rights protections and turn on people and their rights. Civil rights laws protect everyone. The Civil Rights Division is supposed to be a shield. This administration wants to use it as a sword, and it appears to be pointing it at the very people the division was meant to protect. We will not stop demanding a DOJ and Civil Rights Division that will protect all of us, including people of color, all women including transgender women, and all people no matter how they identify, their ability level, or their religion. Freedom from harm should not be a privilege. Our Constitution and laws make it a right. We will not stop fighting for the vigorous enforcement of our laws, and we will work to protect everyone’s fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP: “The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division must not retreat from its core mission. Civil rights laws were written to address racism and marginalization. They are grounded in the blood, sacrifice, and struggle of Americans focused on equality and equity. Civil rights laws are not to be twisted into tools that undermine the very communities they were meant to protect. We demand a Justice Department that upholds equality, not one that turns back the clock on progress.”
Damon Hewitt, president & executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: “The Civil Rights Division has long been known as the ‘crown jewel’ of the Department of Justice. The Division’s efforts helped to transform the nation and bring us closer to being a thriving multiracial democracy in which everyone can flourish. Its mission is sacred, and its role is integral to a full-throated enforcement of our nation’s civil rights laws and the protection of people and communities whose rights are being violated. But now, the Civil Rights Division itself threatens to be the violator. Its infrastructure has been both weakened so that it will be less effective and also weaponized as part of the Trump administration’s revenge-fueled agenda. Instead of providing comfort and access to victims and survivors of racial discrimination, the Civil Rights Division has done a 180 and started an assault on civil rights, hurting Americans across the spectrum and tarnishing its own reputation in the process.”
Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens: “As the nation’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization, LULAC demands better of the Justice Department and its Civil Rights Division, which has abandoned its critical work to enforce our federal civil rights laws and protect all of our communities. We join together with our partners in the civil rights community in urging the DOJ to reverse course and fulfill the promises of the landmark statutes that it’s charged with enforcing. LULAC will continue fighting in the courts, in Congress, and in states across the country to defend fundamental rights and protect our democracy — no matter what.”
The letter is available online here.
Earlier this year, The Leadership Conference released a brief about the history of the Civil Rights Division, the importance of strong leadership, and the recent whiplash in federal civil rights enforcement. The Leadership Conference and dozens of other national civil and human rights organizations have also urged the Senate to oppose the nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to lead the Civil Rights Division.
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.
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