Read a PDF of our statement here.
A coalition of leading civil rights organizations issued the following statement in response to recent developments, including the passage of House Resolution 719. While roundly condemning the murder of Charlie Kirk, the organizations remind Congress and all Americans of the nation’s history of racial and political violence and the urgent need for action instead of revisionist rhetoric.
“As civil rights organizations, we are united in our conviction that political violence is never acceptable. We condemn the murder of Charlie Kirk, just as we do the murders of other public figures, elected officials, and everyday people who have been targeted because of their political ideology or their racial or ethnic identity. Political violence, as well as racially motivated violence, is antithetical to the stated principles of this country, undermines the fabric of our constitutional democracy, and chills the free exchange of ideas essential to a healthy civic society. We condemn all political and racial violence to the fullest extent possible and without equivocation. Black communities know the consequences of such violence all too well – from the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the murder of Medgar Evers, and the countless other acts of racially, politically, or ideologically motivated harm inflicted on our communities to this day.
“Yet, many of our elected leaders have repurposed the tragic and abhorrent assassination of Charlie Kirk into a celebration of his rhetoric and record. Mr. Kirk promoted ideas that were exclusionary, harmful, and fundamentally at odds with the values of equality and justice and deserve no honor nor celebration from officials who have taken a vow to uphold the ideals of the U.S. Constitution. All leaders can surely unite behind legislation that decries political violence. But Friday’s vote was a maneuver that went beyond condemning violence and was an affront to the communities we represent who were often the target of Mr. Kirk’s rhetoric. We commend the Congressional Black Caucus for its leadership in rebuking the misuse of congressional power to advance further disunity and dishonest revisionism.
“As legacy civil rights organizations, we call on leaders at every level—government, education, media, and beyond—to reclaim and uphold equal protection, freedom of speech, and other foundational tenets of the Constitution that serve our multiracial society. The systemic dismantling of democracy that is poisoning our society via a divisive authoritarian agenda must stop. Lawmakers and the judiciary should prioritize restoring systems that protect civil rights, provide for proper redress of hate crimes, and work toward deescalating racial and political violence, and other forms of hate, including the steadily increasing trend of hate and violence targeted at Black and Brown communities.”
Legal Defense Fund
National Urban League
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
NCNW
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
