In response to the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) April 17 announcement that it will disband its Public Safety and Elections task force, Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network say that while that's a step in the right direction, it does not undo harm created by "Stand Your Ground" and voter suppression laws which ALEC influenced state legislators to pass.
According to NAN, in 26 states, people have to fear that a gun toting vigilante will have the right to kill you even when the situation does not call for violence. Also, millions of eligible voters will not be able to cast their vote in the upcoming election due to new voter suppression laws. Even though ALEC has announced that they will no longer deal with non-economic issues, the National Action Network (NAN) believes that more needs to be done to get justice for the people affected by these unjust laws.
NAN recently marched from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery Alabama, to protect immigration and voter's rights. Immediately after the march in Alabama, protesters traveled to Sanford, Florida, to be with Trayvon's family.
In both locations they were met with resistance from people under the influence of ALEC. Last week at during the 14th annual NAN convention in the District of Columbia, organizers spoke with corporate partners about their relationship with ALEC and how their support of ALEC is detrimentally hurting minority communities. It has been evident that these corporate sponsors have understood our concerns and many have since dropped their financial support of ALEC.
NAN, which is committed to fighting justice, maintains its hope that ALEC will maintain their current stance of only dealing with issues affecting the economy. Meanwhile, NAN will continue to monitor ALEC and we ask that our corporate sponsors do the same.
