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Detroit’s
Violent
Crime
“Unacceptable”
Says
U.S.
Attorney
General
Eric
Holder
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us USA
News
Network
DETROIT
(Tell Us
USA)
-The
100th
anniversary
of the
Detroit
Chapter
of the
NAACP
brought
thousands
out for
the
organization’s
Fight
for
Freedom
Fund
Dinner
Sunday
night at
Detroit’s
Cobo
Hall.
U.S.
Attorney
General
Eric
Holder
was the
keynote
speaker
for the
57th
annual
fundraiser,
the
first
African
American
appointed
to that
post.
Holder
addressed
the
sobering
statistics
of
violent
crime in
Detroit
that
claims
the
lives of
young
black
men at
an
alarming
rate of
two per
week.
Holder
called
the
numbers
“shocking”
and the
exposure
of young
people
to crime
“unacceptable”.
Speaking
at a
news
conference
before
the
dinner,
branch
President
Wendell
Anthony
warned
“Democracy
is under
attack”,
referring
to the
Emergency
Manager
state
law,
saying
“We do
not
believe
that
Michigan
should
become
the new
Mississippi.
We have
come too
far,
worked
too hard
and
struggled
too
long, to
allow
democracy
to be
set
aside.”
The
powers
of
elected
officials
can be
seized
by an
Emergency
Manager
who is
also
given
authority
to sell
city
assets
and
terminate
union
contracts.
The
battle
to
challenge
the EM
law has
been
undertaken
by U.S.
Congressman
John
Conyers.
Anthony
said it
is a
significant
time for
the
flagship
branch
of the
civil
rights
organization
and
appealed
to
supporters
to stand
guard.
The
Detroit
branch
of the
NAACP
has long
been an
advocate
of
social
and
economic
justice,
turning
to the
legal
system
for some
of its
greatest
triumphs,
particularly
in the
area of
housing
discrimination.
Holder
reminded
the
gathering
of the
Detroit
NAACP’s
role in
landmark
rulings
in
housing
and
segregated
schools.
A
memorable
housing
case was
that of
Orsel
McGhee,
a black
Detroit
family
that
moved
into a
white
neighborhood
reached
the U.S.
Supreme
Court.
In 1948
the
Justices
ruled
that
restrictive
housing
covenants
violated
the 14th
Amendment;
the
covenants
put
language
into
deeds
that
stated a
property
could
only be
occupied
by
Caucasians.
The
centennial
celebration
was
attended
by Mayor
Dave
Bing,
UAW
International
President
Bob King
and
members
of
Michigan’s
congressional
delegation,
including
Senators
Carl
Levin
and
Debbie
Stabenow
and U.S.
Congressman
John
Conyers.
Major
NAACP
corporate
sponsors
were
also
represented
by
General
Motors
North
America
President
Mark
Reuss
and
former
Detroiter
Ingrid
Saunders
Jones,
Senior
Vice
President,
Global
Community
Connections
for the
Coca
Cola
Company.
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