NAACP Mobilizes North Carolina Members and Legislators in Opposition to Trump Federal Court Nominee Thomas Farr
WASHINGTON, DC (February 28, 2018) –The NAACP, the nation's foremost civil rights organization, hosted a press conference on Capitol Hill to publicly speak out against President Trump's nomination of Thomas A. Farr to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton were joined by NAACP North Carolina State Conference President Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman; Wendell Wake NAACP President Charles Upchurch; New Hanover County NAACP President Deborah Maxwell; NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund Policy Director Todd Cox and about 50 NAACP members from North Carolina for an inspirational rally calling for the Senate to stand against Farr's nomination.
"You cannot be unqualified, you cannot be a racist, and you cannot be a liar and sit in the seat of justice," said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO.
"We find ourselves with an unusual number of judicial nominees whose records show an animosity to civil rights – and Thomas Farr stands out even among them," said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
After the press conference, NAACP leadership met with other legislators on the Hill to rally support to stop Thomas Farr's confirmation.
Farr's career has been marred by a history of malicious efforts to intimidate, misinform, or otherwise disenfranchise African-American voters. Farr represented Jesse Helms' Senate campaigns in two of the most notoriously racist campaigns in modern American history. The racist nature of the 1984 campaign against North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt was so pronounced that judges in a North Carolina redistricting case cited it as an example of how racism continued to flourish in North Carolina politics.
Now, President Trump attempts to appoint Farr to a district that is home to roughly half of the African-American population in North Carolina. This same district has yet to have a judge of African descent in its 143-year history.
The NAACP will always be opposed to any judicial candidate who attempts to suppress or disenfranchise the African-American vote, and is calling on supporters to tell their Senators to oppose the confirmation of Thomas Farr and stand on the right side of justice.
A livestream of the press conference can be viewed here.
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP's work and our six "Game Changer" issue areas here.
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Press conference - Posted Mar 4, 2018
