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Movement for Black Lives Responds to Confirmation of Jeff
Sessions
Organizations United in Opposition to Sessions? Confirmation,
Citing Racist Past, Voter Suppression and Heightened
Surveillance as Indicator for What’s to Come for Black
People
Last week, the United States Senate confirmed Sen. Jeff Sessions as
the next U.S. Attorney General with a near-party line vote
of 52-47. For decades, Sessions has used the power of his
office to intimidate and marginalize black voters. His
record of being indifferent to criminal violations of civil
rights laws and supporting racist and oppressive legislation
make him unfit to serve as the head of the U.S. Department
of Justice. At times in his career, Sessions has even
questioned the necessity of the very laws he is now charged
with enforcing: federal civil rights laws, protection from
discrimination, hate crimes and more. In response to his
confirmation, the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), a
coalition of more than 30 organizations committed to the
fight for equity and justice for black people, released the
following statement:
“The appointment of Jefferson Sessions is a terrifying
affirmation of what many of us already knew, that the
federal government, and the Department of Justice
specifically, will be used as weapons against our
communities under this administration. From the threat to
defund the Civil Rights Division, to the appointment of an
Attorney General whose racism has been called out by his
colleagues, it is clear the federal government will do
nothing to end the state-sanctioned killing of our people by
police, the theft of our votes, the continued
criminalization of our children or from the persecution of
LGBTQ people,” said Marbre Stahly-Butts, director of
partnerships with Law for Black Lives and member of the M4BL
Policy Table. “The confirmation of Sessions is a shameful
step away from the very principles his office was created to
uphold and protect. Despite his confirmation, we are still
committed to fighting for equitable treatment under the law
for all people.”
“Now, at a time when the FBI has sweeping surveillance
powers, we must buckle down and prepare for increased
criminalization while trying to protect the most vulnerable
among us, especially our Muslim and Immigrant communities
being targeted by Trump’s administration. Our people are
still living with the residuals of the FBI’s aggressive
targeting and criminalization of activists and freedom
movements of the 1960?s and 70s, with many victims of
COINTELPRO and similar law enforcement initiatives still
behind bars and living in exile,” said Ash-Lee Henderson,
co-executive director of the Highlander Research & Education
Center, and member of the M4BL Policy Table.
“Sessions will undoubtedly pursue the agenda of white
supremacists and vigilantes of generations past and present,
and will have the power and tools of the federal government
at his disposal. However, we will continue doing what we’ve
always done; we will resist, fight and build our communities
with dignity and a vision for the future that includes
thriving communities for our people, and freedom from
systemic racism and oppression for all people. “
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