Holder to Black Pastors: Civil rights at risk
Associated Press
Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking to black pastors at a Congressional Black Caucus event designed to get out the vote this election year, warned his audience that the civil rights they enjoy are under attack.
"I've heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from citizens, who -- often for the first time in their lives -- now have reason to believe that . . . some of the achievements that defined the civil rights movement could now hang in the balance," Holder said in his prepared remarks.
He cited "the all-too-common deceptive practices we've been fighting for years" in addition to "more recent fears and frustrations about some of the state-level voting law changes we've seen this legislative season."
Holder went on to criticize the South Carolina voter ID law, which Democrats often portray as an act of Republican racism designed to hurt President Barack Obama by disenfranchising black voters.
Holder was a guest of the CBC at the event, which CBC chair Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., explained yesterday is designed to educate pastors on what they're allowed to say about politics in church while encouraging them to keep black turnout high.
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