Statement from the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights that says “We will not be intimidated, and we will not abandon our partners. A year ago, civil rights organizations representing millions of people across the country signed the Unity Pact, a commitment to stand together when any of us comes under attack. An attack on one is an attack on all. “What is happening to civil rights organizations right now is the most coordinated assault on our sector since COINTELPRO. We are the people who train poll workers, run food banks, fight discrimination, protect the right to protest, and staff domestic violence hotlines. We are the ones who make sure that everyone can live, love, vote, work, study, travel and simply be themselves, free from discrimination. This administration views that as a threat to its power. In order to have absolute power, it must dismantle our rights. And that’s why they’re coming after us. “The Southern Poverty Law Center has spent decades doing that work, and we stand with them. We are calling on Congress to publicly defend the movement this administration is trying to silence. We are calling on legal and philanthropic leaders, on faith communities, and on every person who believes dissent is not a crime to say so, and to say so now. Silence in this moment is a choice.”
A lot of nonprofits have been holding their breath and waiting for something like what we’re with the SPLC tonight. And to be clear, it’s scary.
But damn it feels nice to see giants in the space call this what it is and refuse to back down.
The statement from LCCHR is worth reading in full.
