« Departments of Justice and Defense Announce Forum Decisions for Ten Guantanamo Bay Detainees | Main | FDA to Look Into Safety of Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages »
'Post-Racial' America? Not Yet. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Releases Report on Why the Fight for Voting Rights Continues After the Election of President Barack Obama
November 13, 2009Today, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's (LDF) Political Participation Group, released "Post-Racial" America? Not Yet, a report detailing why the fight for voting rights continues one year after the historic election of President Barack Obama. "Amid the excitement of President Obama's election, 'post-racial' has become a powerful buzzword in our social and political lexicon, and some have asserted that America has completely overcome the racially discriminatory practices that have endured long past the work of the Civil Rights Movement," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel. "President Barack Obama's election as the first African American President marks continued progress toward our highest ideals of freedom and equality, and affords all Americans great hope about the promises of our Constitution," said Ryan P. Haygood, Co-Director of LDF's Political Participation Group. "Yet some mistake this critical milestone as the end of our nation's ongoing journey toward racial equality." With voting as its focus, this report confronts the myth that President Obama's election ushered America into a "post-racial" era by examining two recent developments in the area of race and politics. Full release.