Pelosi: For 100 Years, the NAACP Has Been Dedicated to Equal Rights and Equal Justice for All

Pelosi: Pelosi: For 100 Years, the NAACP Has Been Dedicated to Equal Rights and Equal Justice for All

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Contact:Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer held a media availability this evening on the bipartisan agreement reached today on the American Recovery and Recovery Act. Below are the Speaker’s remarks and a question and answer session:

"One hundred years ago today, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded as a counterforce to discriminatory laws and social practices in the United States. With the courageous founding leadership of W.E.B. Dubois and Ida B. Wells, the NAACP would become the nation’s leading force for equality in all aspects of American life.

"The NAACP’s strategy to level the playing field for people of color through legal action, and the groundbreaking work of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, would result in the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 to desegregate our nation’s public schools. Ten years later, the NAACP’s relentless struggle for justice would lead to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"As a nation, we have made significant strides in correcting the wrongs of our past. That struggle continues today, and the NAACP continues to lead the way as we tackle the next obstacles to full and equal justice for Americans and for all citizens of the world.

"On the occasion of NAACP’s 100th anniversary, I salute this vital American institution’s dedication to equal rights and equal justice for all. As we honor the legacy of the NAACP, let us all also recommit ourselves to breaking down the lingering barriers of an unjust past and to clearing the way for a more just future."