Expect next in the Biden Administration. In your opinion, what action has he taken on civil rights . Guest thanks so much for having me. My Organization Counts on the federal government being able to do its part, to do its job enforcing our civil rights laws. The past four years have been difficult for our organization and many groups that care about the most vulnerable communities in our country. We have seen the Justice Department, the u. S. Department of education, hud, and a number of poor federal agencies really abandon the project of enforcing and instituting the protections afforded by our federal civil rights laws. As a result, what weve seen has been a resurgence of discrimination across the country. We have seen the resurgence of discrimination in the fair Housing Market and Affordable Housing opportunities for vulnerable communities. We have seen abandonment of the principal, the principle of diversity abandoned. We have seen the resurgence of suppression is adjusted to barb and turned its back on important work that must be done. We have seen rampant police abuse, Police Misconduct and Police Brutality that has largely gone unchecked because again this Justice Department over the past four years has abandoned the work of investigating systemic policing misconduct. We also know hate crimes have been on the rise across the country and we have not seen this Justice Department do enough to hold the perpetrators of hate accountable. I think there will be a lot of work that needs to be done in the road ahead to make up for that lost ground into breathe life back into our federal agencies that are tasked with the important work of protecting the rights of our nations most vulnerable communities. Really enforcing some of our nations most important federal laws. Host what about what is next . What does the Biden Administration need to do . Guest the first task will be putting in place strong leadership. And bringing with them a clear trend and commitment to enforcing aggressively our civil rights and understanding of what Racial Injustice is because we will need people to bring that a lens to the work. The second thing we understand over the past four years is when we are talking about civil rights, we know there have been a number of executive orders and policy decisions that have been harmful and devastating when it comes to civil rights in our country. President trump recently issued an executive order on race and gender stereotyping as its called. This executive order essentially bans our federal agencies, federal contractors and federally funded ands recipients from conducting training that can help People Better understand and help us better understand what racism is, what sexism is. This is a baffling executive order. Its one of the longest weve seen issued under the trump era and its caused a lot of confusion among schools that receive federal funding. They are trying to understand whether it means they are banned from teaching their students about our history of racism in our country. Banned from teaching about what sexism is and what they can do to overcome. Would we can do to overcome collectively select sexism in society. Attorney general Jeff Sessions put in place when he was in place, put in place a number of decisions, he charged federal prosecutors with pursuing the most aggressive sentencing for federal offenders regardless of whether the crime is lowlevel or nonviolent, and this essentially has led to the incarceration high rates of incarceration in our federal prisons. We have seen the Death Penalty reinstituted very recently. We have seen the Voting Rights act fully disregarded for the civil rights division. Some of these areas will need to be a top priority for new leadership put in place. Really looking at what was done over the last four years and what do we need to do to get back on track and rebuild and restore our commitment to safeguarding the rights of those most vulnerable in our country. Host we want to get our viewers involved in this conversation. Your questions or comments about civil rights issues. You can dial in. If you are a republican, 2027488001. Democrats, 2027488000 and independents, 2027488002. Npr has this headline. Civil rights leaders push biden for Racial Justice fight for attorney general nominee. Can you explain. Guest again, i think this is incredibly an incredibly important job. Our nations highest Law Enforcement agency there are so money Law Enforcement agencies at the local and state level that really model their work around what the Justice Department is doing or not doing. I think it will be very critical as we close down 2020, a year in which we lived through a National Reckoning with our long history of racism and Police Violence to put in place in attorney general who will on day one understands what needs to be done to carry forth that work. To carry forth that commitment to confronting and addressing racial violence and Police Violence which have been issues that dad animated the protest weve seen across the country over the past year. We have seen people black, white, brown. Multigenerational protests around the idea that now is the time to figure out once and for all bringing into these problems that have been intractable throughout her nations history. The attorney general of the United States is playing an Important Role in that. My hope is we will see someone on day one understand what needs to be done to ensure the Justice Department is doing its part to move the nation forward. Host philip in florida, independent. Good morning to you. Question or comment on civil rights. Caller i would say america as a whole has had their civil rights run across for the last seven months while we waited for anything to be done for covid relief since the last bill. I think was a complete disgrace. People are tied into a government extension plan with all of the protesters destroying all of our different heritage and history of statues that they disagree and nothing being done. I think the entire thing has been a complete and outer disrespect to the rights of americans across the board. Host kristen clark, your thoughts on the black lives Matter Movement in the debate over confederate statues. Guest if i could address the first part, so i do think we need to do more. Into the painandsuffering and harm that so many are experiencing right now. They may have lost their jobs with a rate of homelessness because of the pandemic so more must be done in this relief bill that was just signed by President Trump last night. A deeply concerned about people who are on the brink of evictions from their home for example. More must be done. As to the second part, this has been a part of this National Reckoning with their countrys history of racism. Really grappling with these confederate monuments has been incredibly polarizing and divisive in communities across the country. Confederate monuments on courthouse lawns and campus test campuses as well. We have seen students embroiled in debate about the appropriateness of glorifying people who were at the forefront of the confederacy. People who were deemed traders and racist. People who were deemed to embrace the practice of slavery. These are hard conversations and these are conversations that are happening now as we see protests and demonstrations that call for the removal of these monuments. It doesnt mean we dont reckon with that history, but it means the public is saying we need to close the chapter on glorifying people, individuals and institutions that have been at the heart of slavery in our country, the heart of a divisive civil war and really move the country forward into the 21st century. Thinking about what that history means, thinking about closing the chapter on what has been deemed glorification of one of the darkest moments in our nations history. Host darlene in las vegas, independent. Caller i was wondering if you would heard about the lawsuit in las vegas, nevada. Currently a Charter School is being sued by a mother because her child is being forced to take a class at a Charter School to teach them about inherent White Privilege and specifically stated on screen that systemic racism goes for things like one and four young black men being incarcerated. In my day it was called crime, not racism. Im just appalled because it the class is force ended today Charter School. Host are you familiar with this . Guest i am not familiar with our lawsuit. But i do think its important that we have hard conversations about racism, but the way the racism affect our criminal justice system. About the way which racism results in segregated communities across our country. The way in which the legacy of racism and slavery has subjected black and brown people to lower socioeconomic standing in many parts of our country. These are hard conversations and i think the school is a great setting for us to begin having these critical conversations moderated by teachers with expertise who know how to create open dialogue around these issues. I mentioned an executive order issued by President Trump, i think those shut down the conversations. Thats an executive order that i think is incredibly dangerous. It shuts down these kinds of critical conversations that we need to be having, that students need to be having. My hope is the caller will kind of probe more closely what is at issue, what is the Charter Schools purpose in opening up this dialogue which my guess is that Charter School really is trying to push students to again reckon with this legacy of racism that has so long beleaguered the nation. Reverend Jesse Jackson wrote a piece in the Richmond Free press calling on president elect biden to revive the u. S. Commission on civil rights. What is this commission and what work needs to be done . The u. S. Commission on civil rights is a very important institution. It dates back decades and they held hearings and issued reports throughout the year on incredibly important civil rights issues. Under the leadership of catherine lehman, it has put out support reports on Voter Suppression and voter intimidation in our country. There were hearings that gave people an opportunity to bring people problems across the country. They have issued guidance on issues. Sometimes its been that Loan Institution that spoke up during the trump era. Issuing helpful guidance on issues concerning civil rights at a time when we felt the Justice Departments absence. Strong leadership at the commission on civil rights reading back into its mandate i think it will be an important step forward as we think of them not just rebuilding the Justice Department and apartment of education and hud, but these critical agencies that have played a federal role throughout the day. Host you and other civil rights leaders met virtually with the president elect and Vice President elect. What did you want them to do on civil rights . What did you learn what they plan to do on this issue . Guest we talked about a number of issues we collectively deemed amongst the priorities for this administration. I spent my time underscoring the importance of breathing life back into enforcement of the Voting Rights act. If theres one thing weve seen for sure for the past few years is that Voter Suppression and voting discrimination are problems that are alive and well across the country. Weve seen in georgia, past and present. We seen it texas, North Carolina and so may places across the country. Weve got a Justice Department that hasnt brought many cases at all. They have not enforced the Voting Rights act. I urge the administration to ensure this would be a top priority for a new administration and also urge that they think about launching a voter access commission. A National Task force to help study this problem and put more affirmative solution to help guide localities and states that are thinking about how to ensure voter access, particularly during a pandemic. What role would Congress Need to play in the Voting Rights act . We need congress to do its part which is why responding to a devastating 2013 Supreme Court decision which cut out a core provision of the Voting Rights act, a provision known as the section five preclearance provision. Thats part of the Voting Rights act proving critical throughout the decades in blocking and deterring voting discrimination in certain parts of our country. That have long and egregious histories. The Supreme Court put the ball in congress is court to respond in several years later they have yet to have pass a bill that would respond to the courts concerns. That is a critical project. We know john lewis made enforcement of the Voting Rights act and restoration of the Voting Rights act a core part of his life. My hope is we will see this next Congress Passed the john lewis Voting Rights advancement act which passed in the house but has been gathering dust on the senate side. Thats the role for congress. The Justice Department has a Critical Role to play in the other remaining provisions which has proven to be when actually utilized, strong against this problem of voter discrimination we see. We will go to joanna who is waiting in damascus, maryland. Guest good morning caller good morning. I want to say i think trumps record on civil rights and human rights over the last years is appalling. The first is him going after the judge of mexican ancestry intending he couldnt be fair because the was hispanic answer assay. Calling the people of the border applying for asylum to get into the United States and called them an infestation, which dehumanizes them. He banned transgenders in the service. He painted almost limbs as terrorists. He supported the woman in kentucky who refused to issue marriage certificates. Theres so much including the fact extremely little diversity in his cabinet and administration. He has made rude, nasty disgusting remarks about women. Now i understand like in pennsylvania, republican legislatures are doing what they can to even further restrict Voting Rights. The whole idea since hes been in office is to trying key people of color from voting. Guest i agree with the caller. All of those issues really touch on a lot of what is devastating over the past four years. When it comes to the rights of vulnerable commune is in our country. The first point the caller made by the courts is an important one. Over the past four years weve seen President Trump with nominees for lifetime positions on our courts who bring track records. Those nominees also have a large part not reflected the growing racial and gender diversity we see in our country. The courts today are roughly 80 white. This stands in stark contrast with the country that about 40 people of color. We know our law schools are graduating students at higher rates than men in many places. If will yet women made up less than 20 of President Trumps nominees for federal courts. We work to restore the diversity of our federal courts. We need them to be institutions that produce outcomes and rulings that the publican have confidence and faith in. Have confidence and faith in. The caller started with that and i want to underscore that i would point to a book called so you think you can speak about race, a very, very good book. One of the things well go live to the u. S. House where members are beginning debate on this years budget resolution which instructs certain committees to report out information by february 16. Ll report the title. The clerk report to accompany House Resolution 85, resolution providing for consideration of the bill h. R. 447, to