50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act
CIVIL RIGHTS TODAY
Remarks from Georgia Hispanic Bar Association
and NAACP Representatives
I
nspired by Chief Judge Phipps speech, The Everlasting
Dream: Equality for All (The Continuing Duty of Lawyers),
we asked several groups the following question: What is
the greatest civil rights challenge we are facing and how can
we use the law to correct it?*
On behalf of the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association, President
Yenniffer Delgado remarked:
From the viewpoint of the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association
(GHBA), the greatest civil rights challenge we currently
face includes current revelations regarding unconstitutional
surveillance and activities involving the National Security
Agency (NSA) and the Justice Department. The blatant
disregard for our Constitutional protections undermines and
threatens the very essence of our democracy.
While this issue transcends the GHBA and impacts every
individual in this country, as history has shown, it is oftentimes
minorities that are the first groups to be targeted and have
their rights exploited. It is a dangerous trend, and the fact
that there has not been greater public backlash is in itself
frightening.
We believe legal challenges and a strong judiciary can
provide the necessary checks to safeguard our Constitutional
rights.
The Georgia Hispanic Bar Association was created in the
early 1990’s by a group of Hispanic attorneys seeking to
promote diversity and foster the growth of the Hispanic legal
community. Each year since its inception, the organization
has continued to grow in its efforts to support the legal
community and the public. The organization is an affiliate of
the Hispanic National Bar Association.
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
Attorney and Reverend Dr. Francys Johnson, Jr., as President
of the Georgia State Conference of the National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), shared:
“We believe the greatest civil rights challenge Americans face
today is voter suppression. Many people in our communities
don’t completely understand their voting rights due to the
many changes that occur in the state office, including but
not limited to how and even where one can vote. There were
examples of this during the most recent election. A large
amount of registered voters were not found on the roll to vote
at their assigned location. The law can help us positively
legitimize this situation, however, it’s a double edged sword.
The voting laws may change, but we must do an even better
job of keeping the black communities informed of the laws
and being more proactive when it comes to staying on top of
their voting rights.”
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) has had an unbroken presence in Georgia
since 1917. The Georgia NAACP maintains a network of
branches throughout Georgia, from cities to small rural
counties. The Georgia NAACP has been the most effective
and consistent advocates for African American civil rights
in Georgia. Since the late 1950s Atlanta has hosted the
Southeast Regional headquarters of NAACP.
*Comments were solicited from other Bar Associations and
community groups, however, they were either unavailable at
the time of publication or did not respond.
November 2014
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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