On short notice you have all come out because we in Delaware–like people in every state across the nation–are all on the edge of our seats because of one ill-conceived Administration Executive Orders after another. This is not the America we know and love. This is not normal.
We are here today to deliver that message from Delaware to Washington! To do that, right now….take out your cell pone …..now take photos of the speakers, and then send the photos to friends, newspapers and Washington officials …and me to share.
We especially welcome Rep Paul Baumbach, and Sen David McBride. We thank you for hearing our urgent call.
Today, we have leaders of several Delaware organizations who are part of the Delaware Civil Rights Coalition and who will speak and explain the risks they face and why they are here today to petition our state of Delaware to protect our American rights, values & traditions. Then Rep Baumbach will speak.
But First, Let me describe the Delaware Civil Rights Coalition.
The Delaware Civil Rights Coalition (DCRC) is a united response of long-established civil rights organizations, religious groups, civic groups and service providers of Delaware who have come together to counter with one voice the growing threat of discrimination and hate in the Nation and Delaware.
Prudent safety concerns requires us to proactively have in place a countervailing civic network that stands transparent and accountable to represent America’s values against fake news, hate speech and malevolent, but faceless and secretive, diatribes.
This Coalition will exist as long as necessary to fight against policies and events that are perceived as threatening the civil and human rights of residents of Delaware.
For those so targeted we have united in one voice to say this: you are not alone; in fact, you are America.
The Delaware Civil Rights Coalition rejects the dark, cynical mindset that attacks women, the disabled, Muslims, African Americans, Jews, Latinos and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community for self-advancement. This mindset has the effect of making people feel frightened, disrespected and second-class citizens — not fully entitled to equal protection of law and basic human dignity.
This attitude should never be acceptable and never be normalized! These policies are abnormal.
It is NOT our America! We say no Wall, no Ban, no deportations of Dreamers or their families, no attacks to women’s rights.
The vision of the DCRC is a welcoming, safe and inclusive Delaware.
We are sending the message today that Delaware will remain safe and inclusive for ALL its residents.
Now, let me speak personally, as a Latina I have seen and heard this:
–Mothers have to stay at the bedside of their children until they fall asleep because otherwise the little ones are too frightened to sleep;
–A young Latina woman born here is terrified her husband will be picked up and separated from her;
–children tell their mothers “don’t go outside Mama” –they’ll take you away from us!
Crippling fear is neither humane nor a productive answer to what both political parties agree is a broken immigration system. Don’t build a wall. Instead, reform the immigration system. Fix the law, don’t terrorize children. Do not deputize the police to act as immigration officials, because they need to be our protectors, not our detractors. The only one that stands now is the wall of resistance to these policies!
Stop the border wall. Stop the Muslim Ban. And for all of us as women: Stop policies that seek to take women backward.
Do you agree with me?…now send that message to Washington!
Now, let’s hear brief comments from others in Delaware at risk.”
Initial list in alphabetical order (in formation) of DCRC members: American Civil Liberty Union of Delaware; Carla Guerrón Montero, PhD, Associate Professor of Anthropology in Latin American, Women and Gender Studies and Black American Studies, UDEL; CAMP Rehoboth, Inc.; Community Voice Coalition; Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement; Delaware Hispanic Commission; Delaware Human Relations Commission; Delaware Pacem In Terris; Delaware Racial Justice Collaborative; Delaware YWCA; Frankford Public Library; First and Central Presbyterian Church; Jewish Family Services of Delaware (Refugee Resettlement Program & Youth and Family Support); La Esperanza; Latin American Community Center; Latino Initiative on Restorative Justice; League of Women Voters of Sussex County; Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware; Leslie Ledogar, 2016 candidate for Sussex Council District 3; Louise Henry, First Vice-President NAACP; NAACP Delaware State Conference; New Castle Presbytery; Senator Bryan Townsend; Social & Environmental Justice Committee–Unitarian Universalists of Southern Delaware; Parents, Families, Friends and Allies United with LGBTQ (PFLAG); Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice; Sussex Unity Immigration Committee; Unitarian Universalist of Southern Delaware.
