John,

The Trump administration is anti-Black. As we begin Black History Month, the White House is blocking the Justice Department’s civil rights division from doing its duty to protect Americans from discrimination.

Author and 1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones recently explained, “I and many others warned that the anti-CRT, anti-DEI propaganda campaign that so many embraced or downplayed was always about creating the narrative for and paving the way for a larger attack on civil rights. We are here.”

Already, decades of conservative court rulings have watered down our crucial civil rights laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. To strengthen and restore the original intent of these laws, I have continually introduced the Justice For All Act in Congress. Now it’s more urgent than ever to pass this kind of legislation.

If passed, the Justice For All Act would:

• Give our communities more tools to fight back against discrimination and expand the rights of millions of Americans

• Support victims of discriminatory impact (regardless of intent) by ensuring they receive the compensation they deserve and the attorney’s fees necessary to allow civil rights lawyers to take up their cases

• End qualified immunity for government employees, including police officers

• Prohibit racial and gender profiling in police investigations and activity

• Clarify the definition of “race” to include race-related traits like hair texture

• And more!

Amid escalating attacks on Black Americans, please sign on to demand Congress expand civil rights protections and restore the original intent of our civil rights laws.

Built into our country’s institutions, systemic anti-Black racism leads to staggering health and education inequities, as well as the unjust over-policing and over-incarceration of Black communities. We must reckon with and repair these outrageous injustices, including the still-expanding wealth gap between Black and white families.

I’m working in Congress to expand Black homeownership, end redlining in mortgages and auto insurance, protect Black maternal health, enact reparations for Black Americans, and more. Together, we will keep pushing back against the ideology of white supremacy and build a country with a truly multi-racial democracy where everyone can thrive with dignity.

As activist and teacher Brittney Cooper recently wrote, “In this moment there are an abundance of ways to resist. All of them matter.” She said, “We need each other. Pick up the phone and call someone you love today… Our current regime has no regard for us and this is why we must, we must, have it for each other.” Please know that you are loved, and you will always have a partner and ally in me.

Always fighting for you,

Rashida

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Rashida Tlaib
Date: Sat, Feb 1, 2025
Subject: Trump’s trying to dismantle 60 years of civil rights protections.
To: [email protected]

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