As President Biden commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at the LBJ Presidential Library today, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison released the following statement:

“As we celebrate the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, let this be a reminder that from refusing to rent to Black tenants, to installing Supreme Court justices who ended affirmative action and rolled back reproductive rights, to intensifying racial inequity, to rolling back LGBTQ+ protections – Donald Trump has shown his true colors throughout his life and during his term in office. Make no mistake: What Trump, JD Vance, and Project 2025 promise to do in a second term will be worse than anything we have ever seen. Meanwhile, in the last four years, President Biden and Vice President Harris’ historic policies have advanced racial equity, expanded economic opportunity, curtailed discriminatory policies, and protected civil rights so that every American can live in a more just and equitable society. The choice couldn’t be clearer: we cannot afford to go back to Trump’s America.”

President Biden has delivered on his promise to advance equity and expand civil rights and freedoms for every American after Trump spent his term in office attacking our civil rights. 

CNN: “President Joe Biden signed an executive order Sunday expanding voting access in what the White House calls ‘an initial step’ in its efforts to ‘protect the right to vote and ensure all eligible citizens can freely participate in the electoral process.’

“The move comes as Republicans in statehouses around the country work to advance voter suppression legislation, including a bill in Georgia that voting rights groups say targets Black voters.”

Bloomberg: “Biden Elevates Racial Equity Actions Across Federal Agencies”

The Hill: “Biden signs executive order to address racial inequity”  

“The Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government order is designed to address systemic barriers that hold communities of color back from prospering.” 

The Advocate: “On his first day in office, January 20, 2021, Biden signed an executive order assuring that the federal government will not engage in workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and that it is expected to stand against such discrimination in the private sector as well. The order builds on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, which held that the federal law banning sex discrimination also applied to bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Donald Trump’s administration had largely ignored the ruling and had argued before the court for a different outcome.”

The 19th: “Two years in, Biden has prioritized nominating women of color as judges”

“He fulfilled that commitment in June when Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. While Jackson’s historic confirmation was the most visible sign of systemic change in the judiciary, the president has prioritized diversity throughout the federal court system. Biden’s judicial appointees are the most diverse of any U.S. president to date in terms of race, gender and professional background.” 

White House Fact Sheet: “Set up the first-ever national infrastructure to stop evictions, scaling up the ARP-funded Emergency Rental Assistance program in over 400 communities across the country, helping 8 million renters and their families stay in their homes. Over 40% of all renters helped are Black—and this support prevented millions of evictions, with the largest effects seen in majority-Black neighborhoods.”

Under Trump’s administration, communities of color suffered and civil rights were undermined.

Business Insider: “Trump’s judicial appointments worsened racial diversity in the federal courts”

“In just four years, Trump placed 234 judges with lifetime tenure to the federal courts, making up 28% of the current federal judiciary. An overwhelming number — 192 — of Trump’s active appointments are white, while only 37 of them are people of color.”

ProPublica: “Trump Administration Quietly Rolls Back Civil Rights Efforts Across Federal Government”

“Now, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the DOJ appears to be turning away from this storied tool, called consent decrees. The move is just one part of a move by the Trump administration to limit federal civil rights enforcement. Other departments have scaled back the power of their internal divisions that monitor such abuses.” 

The Hill: “The LGBT advocacy group said one-in-three, or 16 of the 59 nominees that Trump has put forth since taking office, have anti-LGBT records, including Leonard Steven Grasz who was recently confirmed to 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Lambda Legal said Grasz served as the board director of Nebraska Family Alliance, which opposed marriage equality, bans on conversion therapy and anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people.”

NPR: “The Trump administration on Friday finalized a rule that would remove nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people when it comes to health care and health insurance…

“Under the new rule, a transgender person could, for example, be refused care for a checkup at a doctor’s office, said Lindsey Dawson, associate director of HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Other possible scenarios include a transgender man being denied treatment for ovarian cancer, or a hysterectomy not being covered by an insurer — or costing more when the procedure is related to someone’s gender transition.”

Mother Jones: “Trump not only proposed no new funding for HBCUs, but also called for slashing millions of dollars from federal programs that support degree programs at the schools.”

“Taken together, these cuts would disproportionately affect low-income students at black colleges and cost the schools millions in revenue.”

Trump has made it clear that in a second term, he’s threatening to undo the progress President Biden has made and take us backwards. 

Axios: “Exclusive: Trump allies plot anti-racism protections — for white people”

“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, close allies want to dramatically change the government’s interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on ‘anti-white racism’ rather than discrimination against people of color.

“Trump’s Justice Department would push to eliminate or upend programs in government and corporate America that are designed to counter racism that has favored whites.

“Targets would range from decades-old policies aimed at giving minorities economic opportunities, to more recent programs that began in response to the pandemic and the killing of George Floyd.”

Forbes: “Former President Donald Trump on Friday said he would undo a new Biden administration policy that will offer protections for transgender students under the Title IX federal civil rights law—his latest promise to restrict LGBTQ rights if elected to a second term…

“In January, he released a video detailing a range of policies targeting gender-affirming care for minors, including pressing Congress to approve a federal ban and several measures to restrict federal funding when it came to trans issues…”

Mandate for Leadership, Project 2025: “Congress should: Eliminate disparate impact as a valid theory of discrimination for race and other bases under Title VII and other laws. Disparities do not (and should not legally) imply discrimination per se.”

TheGrio: “Trump ‘coming for’ Black America’s health care with Obamacare vow” 

“Former President Donald Trump is vowing yet again to repeal the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, which would have devastating impacts on Black communities and their access to affordable and quality health insurance.”