commission on civil rights hosted a discussion titled, stonewall at 50, the movement for lgbt civil rights. this is one hour. >> we will now turn to our next speaker series. this one is titled stonewall at 50 the movement for lgbt civil rights. we thank you for suggesting this month speaker topic. june has come to be known as pride month. the reason goes back 50 years. june 28th 1969, street demonstrations for lesbian and gay civil rights began at the stonewall inn in greenwich village in new york city. many of you these demonstrations as a critical more movement in the lgbt civil rights. june 2016, and recognition of that history, president rock obama proclaimed a site near the former stonewall and a national monument. today, we will hear more about the momentous events. at stonewall and how they served as a catalyst for the lgbt civil rights movement. as evidenced by the statement, the commission majority passed earlier today in support of the equality act, and various reports and statements, that the commission has issued in recent years. discrimination on the basis of sexual orientatio

we just got a letter signed by the leadership conference of civil rights and human rights, we need a group that had the duck, 138 organizations have signed it, all the major civil rights organization, i will redo a paragraph. the justice act they write is an inadequate response to the decades of pain, hardship that the black people have and continue to endure as a result of systematic racism and lacks policies that fail to hold police accountable from misconduct. the bill falls short of the comprehensive reform needed to address the current policing crisis and achieve meaningful law enforcement accountability. it is deeply problematic to meet this moment with a menial incremental approach that offers more funding to police and few policies to effectively address the constant loss of black lives at the hands of police. we therefore urge you to oppose the justice act and vote no on the motion to proceed. now, who do you believe wants to protect the civil rights of african-americans when there is police abuse. mitch mcconnell for the leadership conference of civil rights. who do you bel

they both are supporting the civil rights act. ey both say that unless this is achieved, there might be racial violence. that even if the bill is passed, it is going to lead to a civil war in the south and a race war in the north because white supremacy is so powerful, has such a powerful grip on the country. dr. king says if it is not passed, there may be racial violence because black america's patients is at an end. when we think about that meeting, that meeting showed by 1964, they're both making overtures. alcolm x had been speaking to pulitzer prize-winning journalist. he says him and dr. king have the same goal. he has taken a bag because he is a -- taken a back because he is a conventional white liberal. he thinks of malcolm x as a scary guy who does not like white people. it is not consonant with what dr. king is trying to do. he says dr. king wants human dignity and i want human dignity. we have the same goal. ,hen you think about that year 1964, malcolm x listens to dr. king do an entire speech in harlem on december 17, 1

commission on civil rights hosted a discussion titled stonewall at 50, the movement for lgbt civil rights. this is an hour. >> we'll now turn to our next iteration of the commission speaker series. this is titled stonewall at 50, the movement for lgbt civil rights. i thank the commissioner for suggesting this month's speaker topic. june, as we know, has come to be known as pride month, and the reason for that stretches back now 50 years. on june 28th, 1969, street demonstrations for lesbian and gay civil rights began at the stonewall inn, in greenwich village, in new york city. many view these demonstrations as a critical moment in the movement for lgbt civil rights. in june 2016, in recognition of that history, president barack obama proclaimed a site near the former stonewall inn a national monument. today, we'll hear more about the momentous events at stonewall and how they served as a catalyst for the lgbt civil rights movement. as evidenced by the statement the commission majority passed earlier today in support of the equality act, and the various reports and statements that the com

in 1969 street demonstrations for lesbian and gay civil rights began at the stonewall inn in greenwich village in new york city. many view this as a critical movement for lgbt rights. president barack obama proclaimed a site near the stonewall inn a national monument. as evidenced by the statement, the commission majority passed earlier today in support of the equality act, in the various reports and statements that the commission has issued in recent years. discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is still prevalent in this country. i just read news yesterday that the new york police commissioner apologized for the actions of the new york police department during the stonewall uprising. declaring that the actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive. interactions between police officers and the lgbtq community has prompt ed discussion on civl rights use of force. several surveys found high rates of contact between law enforcement and lgbt individuals, with high rates of police misconduct including harassment and abuse. the commission took in sub

let me talk to you, and you are a civil rights campaigner and your champion a cause of black people forrtant is it to you that right now the campaign, whether it be black lives matter or the wider civil rights campaign reaches out to middle america. because it strikes me that over many yea rs because it strikes me that over many years middle americans who may not like what they see of the brutality at times and the militarization of police forces who work in black communities, they may not like it but they somehow manage to look away or ignore it. you need to reach those people. how important is it that you have a strategy for reaching white people? that you have a strategy for reaching white people ?|j that you have a strategy for reaching white people? i think there isa reaching white people? i think there is a strategy for reaching them. i think the strategy is in fact working. because many of them i've seen people in the protest where i am. who've never protested anything before and who come from the suburbs, older white people, middle—aged white people. who are out because they are

commission on civil rights hosts a talk titled, "stonewall at 50: the movement for lgbt civil rights" by historian and author david carter. stonewall was a six-day gay rights uprising that began during a police raid on june 28, 1969 in new york city's greenwich village. >> we will now turn to our next iteration of the commission speaker series, this one titled "stonewall at 50: the movement for lgbt civil rights." thank you for the topic. june has come to be known as pride month. street demonstrations began at the stonewall inn in greenwich village in new york city. many view these demonstrations as a critical moment in the struggle for lgbt civil rights. in june 2016, in recognition of that history, president barack obama, declared a monument at the stonewall inn. we will hear more about how this was a catalyst for the lgbt rights movement. discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is, unfortunately, still prevalent in this country. i just read in the news yesterday the new york police commissioner apologized for the actions of the new york police departme

to protect the civil rights of african-americans and other people of color. and here we are in 2020 still fighting the same fights. enough is enough. [ applause ] when the law does not sufficiently protect people, we come to congress and ask for change, and they have delivered. the moment is now. we ask that you all support the george floyd justice in policing act to ensure that people of all races, colors and creeds have the right to equal treatment and protection under the law so that we can all live up to our nation's most cherished principles. thank you. [ applause ] >> madam speaker, madam chair. there is, i believe, a suicide gene in all nations but particularly those who cherish their freedom. it is the responsibility of each new generation to move with haste to push back that gene. and that is exactly what young people all over this country have been doing. i stood up in kansas city, missouri, in front of thousands of young black, white and brown young people saying they wanted change and they wanted it now. i almost wept when i stood up and looked ou

who is leading this civil rights movement and exactly what is desired out of the civil rights movement that's a lot so i want to throw it to you shelby. >> that's a good question. one of the questions that since of beginning of all of this has been what do they want? what's, what's the point of all of this. i remember when i was growing up in the civil rights movement and so forth everybody knew exactly what we wanted. often a piece of legislation civil rights bill, or something else that was specific, and concrete, this insurrection seems just sort of well, unclear. unmotivated by negative that it says itself, and so what is it really about? it seemses to me that's the question and that i -- i think that what is really happening is nothing really new. they -- the civil rights argument that triggered this. that there was police abuse, and was very familiar story, saw that in ferguson, missouri, and elsewhere. and it seem to me that in many ways it's about power. and in order to have to pursue power is, as they do, you have to have victims. and my god, george floyd is the victim and the

is this a civil rights movement? who's leading this movement and exactly what is desired out of the civil rights movement. that's a lot so i want to throw it to you shelby. >> will that's a good question, one of the questions since beginning of all this has been what do they want. what is the point of all this? i remember when i was growing up in the civil rights movement and so forth, everybody knew exactly what we wanted, often legislation in the civil rights bill or something else that was specific and concrete, this insurrection seems just sort of unclear and unmotivated by anything that it says itself, and so what is it really about? it seems to me that's the question, and that i think that what is really happening is that it's nothing really new. the civil rights argument that triggered this, police abuse and so forth, very familiar story, you saw that in ferguson missouri and elsewhere, and it seems to me that in many ways it's about power and in order to have to pursue power as they do, you have to have victi

civil rights groups. who have been the noble guardians of these issues for generations, and want nothing more than to see meaningful legislation, are urging the senate to reject the republicans proposal. they see this bill for the field and cynical ploy that it is. their opposition the speak louder than almost any other. how does america believe when it comes to dealing with these issues. leader mcconnell this seems to be new tohe these issues for the civil rights groups who have been fighting for change for decades. who does america believe. wera democrats are certain that the plan cannot result in any legislation passing. it is clear the republican bill as as will not get 60 votes. there is overwhelming opposition the vilna carcass. and because the bill being such large-scale fundamental change, there is no t conceivable way te series of memos strong enough to kill the bill, could garnish those moses well either no bill will pass as a result of this ploy by senator mcconnell. the republican majority has

civil rights, social rights you need basically to just compete in society, the right to own property and go to court and things like that. things are political rights. you can be a citizen and not have political rights. women could not vote anywhere but they were so citizens. they were regulated by the society if not everybody had them. and there was a vague idea called social rights which didn't have much of a definition but you know who you associate with, who you bring into your home and things like that. there were clear differentiations of laws, but all that changed in reconstruction. these public debates are what we call popular constitutionalism, they come to be merged as the rights of citizens, of america. the former slaves part of this debate, what they would say, they said all these rights, we demand all fees rights the same as white people. no longer should blacks be restricted from voting they were in almost every state. some didn't even give them the basic civil rights. illinois, lincoln made against the law for a black person to even enter the state. free black people c

their a critique on allies, meeting the civil rights establishment, meaning civil rights lawyers. there is an intergenerational critique. a lot of the motivations for the protest arose from frustration with the establishment in the community, what the student sought as to easy acceptance of jim crow. one of those for said, it was time for someone to wake up and change the situation. start here.o that's not a very fair assessment of their parents' situation, but it was very motivating for them. it was also a tactical critique. there's a lot of frustration with the established modes of reform and lobbying. many people saw this direct action technique as an alternative and it was something to be avoided, not because they might lose in court, because even if they won they were really skeptical that change would follow. in brown decision came down 1950 four. most of the students, college enough at the old time of brown to recognize the significance and what it was supposed to do. they were also old enough to most of them went to segregated schools in the era versus board of education.

the most important civil rights law ever passed by congress. the 1964 civil rights act. you noted it is very surprising that neil gorsuch joined the majority. it is doubly surprising that he wrote the decision. what he said is, yeah, sure, same-sex discrimination and transgender status were clearly not on the minds of anybody in congress when they passed the civil rights act 56 years ago. he says, that doesn't matter. what matters is the cold words of the law on the page. he says discriminating against someone on the basis of sexual orientation or transgender status are both forms of sex discrimination. so that's a very surprising outcome here. i think the reason the chief justice chose justice gorsuch to write this opinion, remember, it's the senior justice who is in the majority that assigns the opinion, so that would clearly be roberts. he could have written it himself, but i think one of the reasons he gave it to gorsuch

campaigns of the 19605. the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s. oss—section of people at work right now? obviously. anyone who looks at the crowds can see the difference. lots of young white people who are involved in it, and older ones, too. people who are motivated to get out there and do something about these issues. it all started, in a sense, before the shootings occurred, with the election of trump. we have been in a state of continuous sort of revolt, ifi state of continuous sort of revolt, if i may put it that way, and resistance, since he became president. i mean, some people still can't believe that he became president. so we have a bit of a continuous state. there's been one thing after another, about trumpet. so we had revolution on the first day, when he was trying to get inaugurated, we had marches and protests a nd inaugurated, we had marches and protests and big ones, and so on. bigger than the people who came out for the inauguration. so this continuous attitude of resistance, and then you have the virus, and then you have the stay

. >> the lawyers committee for civil rights under law. we're one of the nation's leading national civil rights organization founded in june of 1963. for the past 56 years for help protect the -- and other vulnerable communities across the country. what are your thoughts of what happened in atlanta at the shooting at the wendy's restaurant. >> another tragedy. this is a moment you would expect law enforcement would be on their best behavior in the wake of the tragedy of the killing of george floyd and breonna taylor and with the marches and protests happens across the country, it's fair to say that law enforcement is under a microscope. you truly would expect the very best when it comes to how they're engaging with communities, with african-americans. this is most unfortunate, a most unfortunate and avoidable tragedy. what we understand is that this man was in his car, may have been asleep at the wheel. isn't clear whether we would have been to deply law enforcement. there wasn't threat of violence or any threatening activity. it truly was

imagine if president johnson after the bus with march in selma and the righteous movement for civil rights and proposed a bill that called for more data onthe effectiveness of poll taxes and other voter intimidation techniques . imagine if president johnson instead of the voting rights act proposed a voting rights commission to study the issue a little bit more. there is no escaping the fact that senate republicans have drafted a policing bill that is deeply, fundamentally and irrevocably flawed. and the democrats are not only the ones to say so you this morning's washington post, the floyd family lawyer reverend sharpton, the naacp legal defense fund urged center oppose the gop reform bill area they call it a nonstarter, a nonstarter and that is whatwe believe as well . last night the naacp legal defense fund said that it cannot support legislation that does not embody the strong accountability framework or police officers and other law enforcement officer whoengaged in misconduct . the lawyers for the families of george floyd and breanna taylor, one of the nations most renowned civil rig

act of 1957 created the civil rights commission and civil rights division.isenhower ordered desegregation in the d.c. schools. you have the insurrection act that was amended in 1871 to allow the use of military to enforce, among other things, civil rights and desegregation. 1871, ulysses s grant sent a thousand elders to hunt down clansmen in south carolina and captured 600 of them. 1957, eisenhower sent the 101st division to little rock to protect nine students entering little rock against the order of the governor at the time. one of bill clinton's mentors. 1962 john kennedy federalized the national guard to allow black student to enroll in mississippi oxford. 1965 lbj federalized the national guard to protect civil rights. i'm just touching the tip of the iceberg. the number of economic programs, the trillions of dollars, don't tell me this country is systemically racist. if this country were systemically racist, none of this would have taken place, none of this would be taking place. we americans are good people regardless of our race, regardless of reli

that brought the case against her employer when the obama administration was enforcing federal civil rightss to protect trans and lgb individualals. behalffvened on aimee's to make sure someone was defending her rights, knowing the u.s. was likely going too shipip positions, , which they ultimately did at the united states supreme court. it was the employer's and the united states against the workers. victotoryn incredible for woworkers in general. this was incredible victory for expensive interpretations of civil rightsts laws. meend the realitity is that ai lost her jobob, her healthh insurance because we livive in a country that ties access to health i insurance to emplploym, whwhich is tragic in and of itseself. her health beganan to decline because of that. she spent the last seven y years of her life not onlyly fighting for the e basic did nettie of te refoformation it w would happeno heher was wrong, but while she s precariouslyly -- she did not he financiaial security that led directlyly to her premature deah justst weeksefore the susupreme court ruled in herer favor in ts cacase. i

committeeu are on the for civil rights under law. an't it a given that constitutional right that any the law andding by minding their own business is granted the right to be left alone by police? guest: yeah. that is an important question that we are tackling right now. why do we have police officers unnecessarily entangled in african-american communities, communities of color, in our schools? half of our schools have a resource officer and law enforcement presence which feeds into this school to prison pipeline. this is a problem that starts at the earliest -- at the youngest age for some communities. people have the right to be left alone. we need cops to protect us. there are crimes that unfortunately happened. but many of the deaths we are seeing, including the ones that happen in atlanta over the weekend are ones that could have been avoided. instances do not even warrant the deployment of an armed police officer. we have to think about how do we reduce the footprint of police officers in our community. how do we deal with the ra

there's a civil rights attorney that's signing on that will be preparing a signing statement alongside the president. what is the executive order going to look like as far as we know right now? >> of course, everything with this white house is very fluid. we will see what the president actually signs tomorrow. but our reporting so far indicates there's a few key items that are supposed to be in there. one is a national database that would track police officers who have been accused of repeated excessive use of force or misconduct. another is language in there to encourage mental health workers, social workers to work more closely with police and another aspect would be some sort of national standard for use of force that wouldn't be required for police officers to follow, but departments would be encouraged to use. now the president speaking moments ago referred to this as something that would be very kpcomprehensive comprehensive. jeff bennett has been talking to police union officials on this. talked to civil rights lawyer on this. said this is going to be something that's incrementa

the court said a 56-year-old law, the 1964 civil rights act that bans discrimination based on race, religion and sex also bans job decisions because of sexual orientation and gender identity. because they're forms of sex discrimination. it's a victory for gerald bostock. fired from a county job in georgia after joining gay softball team. >> my heart stopped, i went into shock. though i didn't ask for this journey -- no one should go to work fearful of losing their job because of who they are, who they love or how they identify. >> reporter: the vote 6-3, with chief justice john roberts and neil gorsuch joining the more court's four more liberal members. gorsuch wrote the ruling congress might not have anticipated this result when it pass it the civil rights act, he said, but, quot the limits of the drafter's imagination supply no reason to ignore the law's demands, only the written word is the law. >> the lgbtq community was panic stricken that the retirement of their hero kennedy would cause them to suffer a huge setback in the supreme court instead, it's a massive victory. >> repo

bodyf one of the most important civil rights organizations in america. and i am passionate about that organization, our us military. can improve in terms of race? are there questions that need to be asked about the record of our military on these important issues? it was an important day of the u.s. senate with unanimous vote to confirm charles q brown junior to be chief of staff of the united states air force. to be more involved in his confirmation and to strongly speak in support of the senate confirmation. i have had many discussions with general brown over the past year but what b surprised me to learn that yesterday's vote was a historic vote for america. ninety-eight / zero. so historic. general c q brown was confirmed yesterday by this body is our first african-american service chief in the history of the united states of america. so the top four star generals of the army navy air force marines and coast guard and the chairman of the joint chiefs and in the early 19 nineties general cq brown that we confirmed yesterday to be the first african-ame

and she is still very active in the civil rights movement. host: that is chester in kansas city, kansas. parker? sure ii'm going to make got this correctly because my earpiece is going out a little bit. from what i understand is that there was the naacp was reluctant to participate in a protest against woolworth, does that sound right? that is not surprising. and i believe he was talking about in the early 1950's. is that correct? host: yes. guest: the naacp agenda in the 1950's was to take a more litigation approach. hence why there's brown v. board of education and several other cases around the integration of schools. they were reluctant to do anything that would involve direct confrontation. they sort of jump on the bandwagon or become more comfortable with it, by the time they get to the student sit in movement, in part because they see how effective it is. king himself even articulated as the effectiveness of doing sit ins and direct confrontations, as long as it was nonviolent. but at that time in the 50's in the midst of the cold war,

that's why the leadership conference on civil rights called the bill deeply problematic and, quote, a menial, incremental approach. that's why the lawyer representing the families of george floyd and breonna taylor said he was shocked -- shocked -- that the republican bill could, quote, even be thought of as legislation. as i said the other day, i know my friend from south carolina is trying to do the right thing. but the problem we have and the problem so many civil rights have is with the substance of the bill and with the way the republican leader, leader mcconnell, who controls the floor, set up the process the republican majority drafted a bill on its own and instead of putting it through committee where members of both parties could analyze and amend it, dropped it on the floor and dared democrats to block it. let me be very clear. the debate on policing reform is only over for those who want it to be over. and maybe those who never truly wanted this debate in the first place. because the truth is, by the end of the day today, the house will pass the most serious policing reform

lawyers that are there for civil rights, not for civil settlements.

congress passed the civil rights act of 1871 after the civil war when black americans faced violence from the kkk and white supremacists in southern states. it gave them the right to seek relief in federal court when their constitutional rights were deprived by someone acting in official capacity. it is those same civil rights that we should be upholding today that those rights, making sure that there is not police brutality. and that is what the u.s. department of justice is supposed to do. it is supposed to fight to uphold those rights. but we know we have a problem because president trump and attorney general barr have repeatedly abdicated those responsibilities, have failed to uphold those civil rights because as a top law enforcement officer in the land, they could be directing and supervising u.s. attorneys and prosecuting these federal crimes as violations of civil rights. i know that that is what president obama did. i know that he worked hard in the civil rights division to oversee pattern and practices and cases of police abuse and entered a number of consent decrees with ma

do they go on to become leaders in the wider civil rights movement?depends on how you are defining the movement. they had aree, difficult time. after the protests, they were labeled radicals. in some ways, they are blackballed from local opportunities. david richmond remained in greensboro. i believe he ended up becoming a janitor at a nursing home, refusing to leave north carolina because his family was there. his family, his children. and areeft greensboro still around and exist. toe of them have gone on have strong careers in the military service. that would have been joseph there's another -- i'm blanking -- zeal blair junior. he moved to massachusetts and some additional postgraduate schooling and became a teacher and counselor. he does oral histories. in a way, they have kept the legacy alive and have passed along their understanding of ideologyuality, their on to a subsequent generation that i would argue has been essential how we end up at a moment like this when people are employing similar tactics that we have seen in the 1960's to advance a

do they go on to become leaders in the wider civil rights movement?st: it depends on how you are defining the movement. they all to some degree had a difficult time. after the protest, they are labeled radicals. in some ways, they are somewhat blackballed from local opportunities. david richmond ended up becoming a janitor at a nursing home, refusing to leave north carolina because his family was there. his parents in particular, his children. others however left greensboro and are still around. some of them have gone on to have strong careers in military service, that would've been joseph mcneil. there is another -- i'm blanking. aziel blair jr., he moved to massachusetts. did some postgraduate schooling, eventually became a teacher, a counselor. he does oral histories. in a way, these men have cap the -- have kept the legacy alive and have passed along their understanding of racial equality, their ideologies, onto a subsequent generation, their children. that has been, i would argue, essential to how we end up at a moment like this, when people are

i'm a civil rights attorney.s condescending and insulted every african-american, every american. then you follow up with a series of protesting which is perfectly okay but the failure of a democratic to call out the rioting and the looting, the murder, something that i could no longer sit and stay quiet. then you have these comments about defunding the police. i want everyone to know i have a sister in law enforcement and i may criticize bad police officers because mark, 97, 98% of the officers are great. they protect you and i at two or three in the morning. and two or 3% are horrible but my goodness, to defund the police, to take away law and order and then you have this unbelievable situation where the democrats will not criticize black lives matter, black lives matter is disingenuous. why? because there's only certain black lives that they care about. what about that retired black officer david dorn, a black man, murdered defending a business. i didn't see black lives there, i didn't see al sharpton there, it

of the civil rights movement.he tactics they are employing are very much those of the 1960's, those of the students. such as picket lines and sit ins . and really making their presence and voice heard. there are certainly outliers who have taken a different approach. sentiments,the core the core philosophy of king and his supporters, and even of the young men and women participated in lunch counter sit ins, i very much see in protests today. host: tina is out of milwaukee, wisconsin. you are next. caller: good morning and thanks for c-span. hat, parker, if i wore a my hat will be off to you. i appreciate your being on the program this morning. i am originally from the south, i'm from mississippi specifically. my contact that i want to bring .p is woolworths i'm not going into all of the details about my history, because i'm in the process of trying to write my memoirs. my experience came when i graduated from high school in jackson, mississippi and my mom cannot afford to send me to college. my dad had left the fa

commissioner of the department of human rights, my agency is charged with enforcing one of the strongest civil rights laws in the country, the minnesota human rights act. we continue our ongoing work to secure justice by announcing that our department is opening a civil rights investigation into the police department. a policeegal for department to discriminate against someone because of their race. when our department finds civil rights violations, we seek structural change. departmentk at the to determine if they have utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color. we will review the training and practices. the death of george floyd is what launched this investigation. george floyd should be alive. he deserves to live a life full of dignity and joy. and mayor carter, the lieutenant governor and community members have stressed that what community members are facing to get a is the -- today what create and sustain has resulted time and time again. minnesota has some of the worst way should parties in the country. we see it all the time. employment, education and the criminal justi

imagine that the president after the march for civil rights movements had proposed a bill that called for more data on the effect of more poll tactics. imagine if president johnson, instead of the voting rights act, proposed a voting rights commission to study the issue a little bit more. there is no escaping the fact that the senate republicans have drafted a policing bill that is deeply, fundamentally flawed. and the democrats are not the only ones to say so. this morning's "washington post," the floyd family lawyer, reverend sharpton, the naacp legal defense fund urged senators to oppose the g.o.p. reform bill. they called it a nonstarter -- a nonstarter and that is what we believe as well. last night the naacp legal defense fund said it cannot support legislation that does not embody a strong accountability framework for police officers and other law enforcement officers who engage in misconduct. the lawyers for the families of george floyd and breonna taylor, one of the nation's most renowned civil rights attorneys, benjamin crumb p wrote, that the republican legislation is, quot

it was another decade almost before we had meaningful civil rights registration in america. and things began to change. is that how you are looking at this? where in the next struggle are we? the beginning, the middle, the march on washington by reverend king and his i have a dream speech. where does the george floyd death and funeral in the protests we are seeing now, fall in this continuum. >> we have to decide that as a nation. as you look back to 1964 example . if you told someone that they before the 1960 election, that in 60 years richard nixon would be a liberal v.p. from california mvp under eisenhower who helped to desegregate the military and appointed a court for brown versus nixon would have been considered a racist and who blocked every piece of civil rights legislation from 19 36 to 1958. civil rights moves in and we shall overcome. no one would have believed you on this day in 1960. but we chose a different path. we wrote the future of america. and lbj, the southern dixiecrat , they were able to push for civil rights legislation because of the weight of histor

huge problem for millions >>> barack obama again speaks out, calling for change, along with a civil rights icon >>> as the country reopens, new warnings about covid-19 continuing to spread. >>> and that tropical storm taking direct aim at the gulf coast. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening the unblinking camera once again tonight is framing some of the very issues involving police that have sent tens of thousands onto the streets in protest. the video of a 75-year-old man forcefully shoved to the ground by a buffalo police officer, the latest jarring image, rocking the consciousness of a country in turmoil and tonight even good news, a surprise indictment of inequality as the black workforce was left behind >>> we begin our night with gadi schwartz. >> reporter: we begin tonight new calls for police reform, not only for george floyd and brianna taylor, who would have celebrated her birthday today. >> i don't think they should still be on payroll. >> reporter: now mounting outrages and calls for accountability for those hospitalized, beaten back on th

and racial -- show no harmony sympathy towards civil rights and racial justice and harmony on the floor the center. this is time for compassion, sympathy, understanding and action. for our leaders to come together instead of letting events tear us apart. leader of our country, the president of the united states struggles to summon him an ounce of humanity in this time of turmoil. the president has reacted to the pain and anger in the country by plane politics and encouraging police to be tougher on protesters. by bragging about his reelection prospects and personal safety inside the white house. a presidential tweet and vote the miami police chief who in 1967 encouraged shooting black people and riots. the president seems unable to even address the underlying issues that the protests are about, unwilling to even speak to the nation about racial justice. none of this is remotely new with president trump. a few years ago, president trump don'taw enforcement -- worry about entering suspects. --y sprayed the repealed restrictions on police departments obtaining military style weapons. the p

on a range of different issues through the civil rights audit. have been some things they have made progress on. we've made progress on the fact they have been allowing for unlawful targeting through their ads and they stop doing that. they settled ongoing litigation. we helped craft their policy to prevent misinformation and interference with the census. it was a pretty robust policy. we have pressed various times around the enforcement of that policy where they have not caught major disinformation that they subsequently have taken down after i had to flag it for them. we've had some progress, but i would say on voting and elections, they have moved far too slowly and then have failed to really understand what they are allowing on their platform and the harm it creates. this isn't about free expression. i worked at the american civil liberties union. backer of the first amended, but the company chose to develop policies after 2016 to fight voter suppression, to fight online hate. what we are seeing, what i thought was a sense to define the value

we stand alone in the state as enforcing the strongest civil rights -- some strong civil rights laws across the country. what's going on at the federal level is different. those are federal laws and issues. i also want to stress that this is the only investigation that's occurring that's looking at a systems change within minnesota using minnesota law. the other investigations that are going on predominantly and primarily about criminal investigations looking to hold folks personally accountable. this is looking at systemic changes across the board. i'm not sure if the feds are doing an investigation. this is definitely an investigation we're doing from our agency. >> thank you for that question. okay. so this is very much the work that we do every day. we have a phenomenal team that right now is investigating hundreds of cases of discrimination across the state and so the way these cases work is that a charge of discrimination is filed, an investigator is assigned to the case a mutual investigation process that moves forward. there's a determination made on whether or not there's di

protecting civil liberties and civil rights has been part of our mission since the days of the civil rights movement. those investigations are at the heart of what we do, for the simple reason that civil liberties and civil rights are at the very heart of who we are as americans. before the civil rights act of 1964, the federal government largely left protection of civil rights to state and local governments. and it took the mississippi burning case and the civil rights act for the federal government to end the fbi to get off the sidelines and to begin to fully protect civil rights for all people of color. since then, we have been working hard to identify and prevent hate crimes, and to investigate abuses of power and authority. our civil rights cases are among the most important work we do and that will never change. , i will repeat today what i have long believed about the men and women of law enforcement. it takes an incredibly special person to willingly put his or her life on the line for a complete stranger. and to get up day after day after day and do that and it is extraordina

these are civil rights groups. they have been fighting for these things for decades. they say do the right thing which currently leader mcconnell didn't. those american strong words from ben comp, the attorney for the families of george floyd and breonna taylor and michael brown and others. when leader mcconnell scheduled the vote, and at the into a cul-de-sac, a dead-end of which led to the work. this claim that he wanted a bipartisan bill, was the fact that there was no democratic input into either the bill for the procedure. none. mr. mcconnell, bipartisan means what it says, you work with both parties. you know for the will together herself and declare with the procedure is none say you have a bipartisan bill. in many don't work in a bipartisan way, you will inevitably fail. but all is not lost. there is a way forward. the end of the road because now, leader mcconnell can do just what we asked him to do. put together a group of democrats and republicans, come up with a bipartisan bill, putting on the floor, allowing for amendments in the milk and pass in the senate

before the civil rights act of 1964, the federal government largely led protection of civil rights the states and civil governments and it took the mississippi burning case and the civil rights act for the federal government and the fbi to get off the sidelines it to begin to fully protect civil rights for all people of color. since then we've been working hard to identify and prevent hate crimes andig to investigate abuses of power and authority. our civil rights d cases are amg the most important work we do, and that will never change. i will repeat today what i have long believed about the men and women of law enforcement. it takes an incredibly special person to willingly put his or her life on the line for a complete stranger. and to get up day after day after day and do that is extraordinary. and in the struggle at times we won't forget the bravery of our law enforcement members who have wrist life and safety to protect the public and keep the peace. but the difficulty of that job doesn't diminish the role we play in society, which is to protect and serve all citizens, no matter

is this a civil rights movement? who's leading this movement and exactly what is desired out of the civil rights movement. that's a lot so i want to throw it to you shelby. >> will that's a good