NAACP Legal Defense Fund : Defend, Educate, Empower

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Economic Justice

Historically LDF has fought for African-Americans to be able to work, live and thrive without racially imposed barriers. In 1940, in one of LDF’s first cases, LDF won a watershed decision requiring pay equality between black teachers and white teachers. Through Its litigation, advocacy and public education, LDF’s Economic Justice practice continues to fight to increase fairness and attainment for African-Americans in all aspects of economic life.

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Power In Numbers

302,048

African Americans in New York and New Jersey who have sought assistance from FEMA to help them recover from Hurricane Sandy. More

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Program Work

Environmental Justice

Holt v. Scovill

Dickson County appeared to be an idyllic, rural community of rolling farmland in north-central Tennessee. But decades of toxic dumping at a landfill poisoned the groundwater, and left three generations of a local African-American family who live next to the landfill searching for justice.

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Employment Discrimination

Lewis v. City of Chicago: "The Chicago Firefighters Case"

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In 1995, Chicago administered an entry-level firefighter exam to more than 26,000 applicants.  The passing score was 65 out of 100, but against the advice of its own expert...

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Housing Discrimination

Road Home

Following the devastating destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) established a home rebuilding program known as Road Home to get residents back to the region.  With $11 billion in...

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