Racial Justice Project

Discrimination, harassment, intimidation, retaliation and other acts that deprive persons of their human and civil rights on the basis of race and ethnicity are the permanent focus of the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Michigan. The project’s mission includes the identification of systemic problems and the development of system-wide strategies for addressing those issues. At the same time, the project provides assistance to select individuals and families whose rights have been violated as a consequence of racial hostility. Currently, our projects include:

• Advocacy for a family that claims that their 9-year-old daughter and two other students of African descent were asked to play the roles of slaves in a classroom skit while white students were instructed to beat them. As part of the “lesson” the teacher ridiculed a Negro spiritual.
• Pursuit of justice for a black man who claims he endured a racist mob attack when attempting to attend the wedding reception of a friend. He then encountered indifference when he attempted to gain the assistance of police.
• A campaign to reform Michigan’s “school-to-prison pipeline” that is the cause of students of color in some school districts having a four to five times greater chance of being suspended or expelled from school than white students. There is also a corresponding statistical likelihood that students of color will end up in the juvenile justice system because with growing regularity, school administrators refer school discipline cases to law enforcement, or direct police on school premises to place students under arrest.

There are also numerous issues concerning post 9/11 profiling and harassment of Middle Eastern and South Asian communities; abuse of Latino communities by immigration officials, and much, much more.

The project’s initial focus was racial profiling. The ACLU of Michigan documented numerous incidents throughout the State of Michigan, and also filed a lawsuit against the predominantly white City of Eastpointe, Michigan when it was discovered that a ranking police officer issued a directive to detain all young black bicycle riders who crossed the municipal boundary shared with the predominantly black City of Detroit. The litigation prompted a $160,000 settlement.

The Racial Justice Project also participates in a coalition effort to challenge the constitutionality of Michigan’s system for the appointment of attorneys who represent indigent criminal defendants. There is a focus as well on legislation in Michigan that condemns juveniles to die in prison if they are convicted of any of several specified offenses. Although the population of African-descended persons in Michigan is approximately 15 percent, about two-thirds of those who are serving juvenile life sentences without any possibility of parole are black.

To file a complaint with the Racial Justice Project,

click here .