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Racial Justice

The authors of the Declaration of Independence outlined a bold vision for America: a nation in which all people would be free and equal. Yet the forced removal of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of those of African descent marked the beginnings of a system of racial injustice from which our country has yet to break free. Despite important gains made by civil rights activism, the school-to-prison pipeline, mass incarceration, and racial profiling and bias in policing are but a few of the racist injustices that mark the distance between America’s reality and the dream we seek to achieve: liberty and justice for everybody.

Resources

Published: 
Wednesday, December 21, 2022
The end of the year is a natural moment for reflection. At the ACLU of Washington, it is a time to take stock of how our organization showed up – for and beside communities impacted by systemic oppression and consistent with our mission, vision and values.
Published: 
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
The legal basis for and ability to commit someone has changed dramatically over the last few hundred years in the United States. Here is a brief history of institutionalization in Washington State and context for some of the massive racial disparities that exist in the civil commitment system.
News Release, Published: 
Friday, October 7, 2022
Published: 
Friday, October 7, 2022
We all live, work, and play on the ancestral homelands of Indigenous peoples who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.
News Release, Published: 
Thursday, August 18, 2022
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with 12 ACLU state affiliates and represented by Cooley LLP, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court today urging the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
News Release, Published: 
Friday, March 4, 2022
These bills are a dangerous step backward for Washington communities

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