Circulates online pledge in response to abusive protests
By American staff
The NAACP is asking Americans to take a “stand for civility” in the wake of hateful protests against members of Congress who voted for President Obama’s health insurance reform legislation.
“Like many of the hot-button political issues of our day, health care reform has inspired passion in supporters and opponents alike. Indeed, it is this passion that kept us determined to keep fighting for reform, even on the days when it looked like we might not win,” Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, wrote in a widely distributed email.
“While the NAACP respects the passions that inspire political movements of all kinds, we know that when civility breaks down, communities of color are often the first to be hurt.”
The NAACP website, www.naacp.org, has a page inviting the public to take a pledge to be civil.
The pledge reads:
“I am taking a stand for civility. There is no place in our political discourse for the abusive, derogatory and racist language used against Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, John Lewis and Barney Frank. This sort of language degrades us all and undermines our democratic process.”
U.S. Reps. Cleaver and Lewis, both African Americans, and U.S. Rep. Frank, who is openly gay, were the targets of the worst verbal abuse on Capitol Hill, and Cleaver was spat upon.
“This behavior is not only outrageous, but this behavior un-American,” Jealous said.
Sign the online petition at www.naacp.org.