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LCCR coordinates the coalition's advocacy and leads coalitions in the following areas:
Message from the Executive Director
"Civil rights." These two powerful words reflect hard-won challenges of the past and burning struggles of today. They're the cutting edge issues of the day - for all Americans.
The struggle for civil rights has long been a struggle for equality: legally, in terms of equal participation; economically, in terms of equal opportunity; and morally, in terms of equal respect.
Today, that means we are working to preserve the integrity of the courts; promote an education system that provides the best education possible for every American child; ensure all qualified voters get to vote, and that all votes count; and ensure that everyone is measured by a single yardstick.
I've lived long enough to see this country go from a segregated system that represents the worst of apartheid to a system that at least has the prospect of delivering the Constitutional promise to all its citizens. So I know that there is power in the spirit of people working together to achieve common goals.
Working together, we can continue to make this a more perfect union.
We are LCCR - the civil rights coalition for the 21st century. And we've still got work to do.
Wade Henderson
Ensuring Equal Opportunity
Priorities include:
- Ensuring educational excellence for all students through adequate funding for K-12 schools and by monitoring the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act (Public Law No. 107-110)
- Funding to ensure strong enforcement of the nation's civil rights laws
- Working toward passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), an anti-discrimination policy in the workplace for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people
- Preventing unlawful housing discrimination and enhancing affordable housing opportunities
- Appointment of executive branch nominees who are committed to civil rights, civil rights enforcement, and equal justice under law
- Monitoring judicial developments in affirmative action
Protecting Civil Rights, Civil Liberties, Worker Protections, and Equal Opportunity
Priorities include:
- Appointment of qualified and diverse federal judges
Promoting Civic Engagement
Priorities include:
- Monitoring enforcement and adequate funding for the Help America Vote Act (Public Law No. 107-252)
- Monitoring Enforcement of the Voting Rights Act
- Ensuring a fair and accurate census
Building Stronger Communities and Families
Priorities include:
- Strong due process and civil rights protections in the nation's immigration laws
- A welfare reauthorization proposal that adheres to fundamental principles of equality, fairness and social justice
- A working families agenda that include a fair and just minimum wage; vigorous enforcement of the Family and Medical Leave Act; pay equity; input into the Social Security debate; and bankruptcy reform that does not impose hardship on the most vulnerable populations.
- Curbing of predatory lending practices, and updating of the Community Reinvestment Act to keep pace with the rapid changes that are occurring in the financial services marketplace
- Closing the "digital divide" by advocating for the full participation of all Americans in the Digital Age, including support for community technology programs and the advancement of media diversity
Reforming the Nation's Criminal Justice System
Priorities include:
- Combating the practice of racial profiling
- Support for the Innocence Protection Act and the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act
- Restoring balance and fairness to the drug sentencing laws
- A strong and effective federal policy against hate crimes
Guarding the Crossroads of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Priorities include:
- Resisting government policies and actions conceived in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks which cut back on individual rights and civil liberties
- Standing up for and with those being scapegoated, by urging national strength and unity
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