August 28, 2009 - Posted by Connie Lam
Though the Civil Rights Movement was a non-violent movement, African Americans' struggle for civil rights was frequently violent. Knowing this, Congress put a provision into the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to create a body within the Department of Justice to be a "peacemaker" when community tensions arise based on race, color, or national origin.
The Community Relations Service (CRS) provides aid to state and local governments and public and private organizations that are in preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions. By providing independent conciliation services free of charge, CRS serves as an impartial mediator, facilitating racial harmony among communities of all sizes as well as the government. In order to protect the integrity of the service and the engaged parties, the Act mandated that CRS' work be confidential and without publicity.
CRS played a critical role over the last 45 years in helping to make desegregation efforts run more smoothly in communities across the country. Since its establishment, CRS has worked on a wide range of cases across the country, from school desegregation and urban riots, to tensions between local college students and community law enforcement. In 2008, following the Jena 6 incident, CRS created a "Noose Incident Response Team" to better monitor community tensions around these incidents.
Categories: Civil Rights Enforcement Agencies, Civil Rights History
