Racial Justice
Press Releases
Legislative Alerts
Past Events
Resources
Despite the spirit of equality on which our Founders based our nation, inequality infected our Consitution from the very start. It took more than 75 years after the Constitution was written and a civil war before civil rights amendments were added to the document. It was another hundred years before laws were passed outlawing racial discrimination in employment, housing, public education, public accomodations, and voting. In spite of these enormous strides, however, the promise of fair and equal treatment for people of color remains frustratingly elusive.
Equal public education is still not a reality, as minority school districts have substantially fewer resources than white public schools. The "war on drugs" has disproportionately targeted people of color for prosecution and imprisonment. There have long been discrepancies in the application of capital punishment, with people of color more likely to receive the death penalty than whites. Voting districts created to provide equal electoral opportunity and fair representation have been negated by Congress, and the elections of 2000 and 2004 demonstrated that every vote cast in this country may or may not be counted. Our nation's poor neighborhoods - often populated by people of color - are wracked with poverty, violence, illness and police brutality.
ACLU-TN continues to fight to extend the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to all individuals. Our Campaign Against Racial Profiling, our calls for a moratorium on the death penalty in Tennessee, and our work to educate both law enforcement and members of the community on the rights of individuals stopped by the police are all rooted in this commitment.
Press Releases
May 12, 2005: Press Release - ACLU-TN "Campaign Against Racial Profiling" Achieves Another Success
January 6, 2000: ACLU-TN Launches Campaign Against Racial Profiling
Legislative Alerts
May 9, 2008: ACLU-TN Chart of 2008 TGA Bills Related to Immigrant Rights
April 14, 2008: Voice Your Opinion on Several Pending Civil Liberties/Civil Rights Bills!
April 14, 2008: Support the Racial Profiling Prevention Act (SB3459/HB4001)
ACLU-TN Legislative Chart: Voting Rights, 104th TGA, 2005 - 2006
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March 18, 2005: Restoring Ex-Felons' Voting Rights - Urge Your Legislators to Vote Yes by Tuesday
Past Events
Saturday, September 24, 2005: "40 Years Later: Renewing and Restoring the Voting Rights Act of 1965," Nashville
May 27, 2004: ACLU-TN And National Civil Rights Museum hold event commemorating Brown v. Board
August 22, 2002: "Bridging the Gap: Diversity, Tolerance or Understanding" at Belcourt Theater
Resources
Racial Justice - National ACLU
