John,

Today is the beginning of Black History Month, and anti-Black racism is at a fever pitch. Through illegal and unconstitutional actions, Trump is trying to dismantle 60 years of civil rights protections and halt the Justice Department’s civil rights enforcement, in addition to suspending federal support for equity programs and trying to block teachers from talking about race in schools.

Our country is rooted in systemic racism, but we have powerful tools to protect people from discrimination thanks to Black activists and movements led by Black folks in this country, including the Civil Rights Movement. Unfortunately, decades of conservative court rulings have undermined these hard-fought civil rights protections, and now the racists in the White House are further attacking our rights and our communities.

In response to the right-wing assault on marginalized communities, I partnered with civil rights attorneys in my district to introduce the Justice For All Act, which would restore and strengthen the protections in our country’s crucial civil rights laws: the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

We must urgently pass legislation like the Justice For All Act, which would prohibit actions that have a discriminatory effect (regardless of any discriminatory intent) and give people more tools to combat discrimination in the courts—including rejected mortgage applications, unfair car insurance rates, racial profiling by the police, and workplace discrimination against race-related traits like hair texture.

This Black History Month, can you sign on to demand Congress expand civil rights protections and restore the original intent of our civil rights laws?

Journalists like Karen Attiah and Jamelle Bouie have been calling this a segregationist presidential administration, and writer and teacher Brittney Cooper just posted:

The administration’s attacks on the Department of Justice’s civil rights division are “unprecedented,” according to Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We’ve never seen this before at this scale with any transfer of power, regardless of the ideology of any incoming president or administration.”

The president’s attacks on reproductive health and other marginalized communities will also disproportionately harm Black immigrants, Black LGBTQ+ people, Black women, and Black people with disabilities, who already face life-threatening disparities and discrimination.

In this time of growing dehumanization, I promise that I will always have your back, and I will do everything I can to continue the fight for racial justice and equity for all.

And remember: We didn’t get civil rights and voting rights protections because Congress or the President woke up and thought they were great ideas. These advancements happened because people boycotted, marched, fought in courts, spoke out, and came together in their communities. We must defend these hard-fought wins and support Black-led organizations in the ongoing fight for a truly multi-racial democracy.

Always fighting for you,

Rashida