Racial Justice

The ACLU fights discriminatory practices, challenging racial profiling, fighting for affirmative action policies, and advocating for the rights of exploited immigrant workers, among many more other initiatives.

The authors of the Declaration of Independence outlined a bold vision for America: a nation in which all people would be free and equal. They then, and we now, remain flawed, but still aspire to that broad, not yet achieved goal. Though generations of civil rights activism have led to important gains in legal, political, social, employment, educational, and other spheres, the forced removal of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of those of African descent marked the beginnings of a system of racial injustice from which our country has yet to break free. From our public schools where students of color are too often confined to racially isolated, underfunded, and inferior programs to our criminal justice system that disproportionately targets and incarcerates people of color and criminalizes poverty, to the starkly segregated world of housing, the dream of equality remains elusive. Through the courts, legislatures, and community activism, we strive to educate and empower the public on issues of race as it relates to criminal justice, economic justice, and inequality in education, and on affirmative action.