It was an important event at an important time. 50 years is a milestone worth noting, but I doubt that the visionaries who started the Committee in 1968 could have predicted the amount that we have achieved and the involvement of so many dedicated, innovative and brave people. I was humbled by the true giants of the law that spoke on the panel, a discussion that barely scratched the surface of the Committee’s accomplishments. So much was left unsaid.
The founders could also not have predicted that at the 50th Anniversary that the progress towards racial justice would be under such threat. We were founded in the crucible of the Civil Rights Movement and are being reshaped by the events of today. We live in a world in which we have a movement for Black Lives and last summer the Klan marched openly in Charlottesville, Virginia; where the Supreme Court reaffirmed the use of disparate impact to prove a violation of the Fair Housing Act and HUD is withdrawing from its commitment to affirmatively further fair housing; where de jure school segregation is outlawed, but our children are as segregated as the day Brown was decided.
We have our work cut out for us. The event last week was a recommitment to the struggle for justice.
