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New Civil Rights Coaliton Formed in Delaware

Don Rush

As Donald Trump is about to take the oath of office around thirty-two organizations yesterday joined together to form the new Delaware Civil Rights Coalition.

The aim of the organization is to bring together civil rights and religious groups from all three counties.

And they will deal with issues involving women, Muslims, African Americans and the LGBT community.

But formation of the group comes in the wake of the contentious presidential campaign in which charges of sexism and racism permeated the political battle.

The group said this was not necessarily a response to the Trump presidency.

Kerri Evelyn Harris with the Delaware State Human Relations Commission said, “This election would not have ended up the way it has if it weren’t an issue already simmering. The last eight years have definitely brought forth issues that we had hidden. May be things we didn’t discuss. May be it was things that were discussed at home because it was not okay to say in public."

But she added, “I commend Trump. Many people may not. People are saying things that they were keeping to themselves. So, he made it possible for us to come together. And we had a teleconference in which voices were raised, feelings were hurt. And we came back and said wait a minute we’re all on the same team. And we pushed forward. And we’re all here today.”    

Delaware has been at the fore front of dealing with such issues but has also seen reports of racial discrimination and nepotism in Delaware state government. 

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.