Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Washington – – We are calling on the NOW grassroots movement and ally feminist organizations to join us in publicly denouncing all hate groups and activities.

As D.C. braces for the second “Unite the Right” rally taking place on August 11 and 12, we reiterate our continued commitment to ending racism and ethnic prejudice, promoting diversity, and advancing issues important to women of color.

The unfortunate events taking place at the nation’s capital this weekend promote white supremacy culture – the idea that white people and their thoughts, beliefs, and actions are superior to people of color and other diverse groups – and it is unacceptable.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, over 100 people have been killed or injured by perpetrators influenced by the so-called “alt-right” — making last year the most violent year for the movement. The organization of a radical right group this weekend is more severe than opposing political beliefs exercising their right to free speech and protest. “Unite the Right” is founded upon the social platform of a power structure where straight white Christian men are entitled to oppress and dehumanize other people based on their race, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. This group promotes and celebrates hate, violence, and an antiquated social hierarchy that has no place in our diverse, contemporary society. Resisting white supremacy means owning up to America’s history of racial violence and terrorism.

At NOW, we stand in love and solidarity with all those putting their voices, bodies, and freedoms on the line to denounce hate.

Contact

Brittany T. Oliver, comms@now.org, 202-628-8669

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

The Voting Rights Act passed on August 6, 1965. For African American women, this was meant to deliver on the promise of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was intended to guarantee women the right to vote. The Amendment’s promise of suffrage for women, unfortunately, did not protect indigenous women and women of color. It took the Voting Rights Act to finally outlaw various discriminatory voting practices which acted as a barrier for women of color and was specifically aimed at laws adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

Today we must continue to protect women, particularly women of color, from the onslaught of voter suppression laws and institutional barriers that can tilt the balance of elections. Our democracy is being hijacked by voter restriction techniques that disproportionately impact young people, the elderly, low-income individuals and especially people of color—and within each of these communities, women are most harshly affected.

NOW is outraged that women, who fought so hard for suffrage and particularly women of color, who were the last to secure that right, could now be the first to lose it. These laws could deeply impact women at a time when we need to stop the right-wing from continuing to wage its war on women. Simply put, we need more women at the polls in 2018 to elect leaders who will stand up for our rights.

Contact
Brittany T. Oliver, comms@now.org

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

The Voting Rights Act passed on August 6, 1965.  For African American women, this was meant to deliver on the promise of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was intended to guarantee women the right to vote.  The Amendment’s promise of suffrage for women, unfortunately, did not protect indigenous women and women of color.  It took the Voting Rights Act to finally outlaw various discriminatory voting practices which acted as a barrier for women of color and was specifically aimed at laws adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting.

Today we must continue to protect women, particularly women of color, from the onslaught of voter suppression laws and institutional barriers that can tilt the balance of elections. Our democracy is being hijacked by voter restriction techniques that disproportionately impact young people, the elderly, low-income individuals and especially people of color—and within each of these communities, women are most harshly affected.

NOW is outraged that women, who fought so hard for suffrage and particularly women of color, who were the last to secure that right, could now be the first to lose it. These laws could deeply impact women at a time when we need to stop the right-wing from continuing to wage its war on women. Simply put, we need more women at the polls in 2018 to elect leaders who will stand up for our rights.

Contact

Brittany T. Oliver, comms@now.org