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Norwalk Reflects On Civil Rights At Human Rights Day Event

NORWALK, Conn. – As Norwalk residents and officials gathered in City Hall on Wednesday to mark International Human Rights Day, they reflected on the progress the country has made in civil rights – and the work that still needs to be done.

Yale associate professor Crystal Feimster discusses the history of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at Norwalk's celebration of International Human Rights Day.

Yale associate professor Crystal Feimster discusses the history of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at Norwalk's celebration of International Human Rights Day.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue
The Serendipity Chorale sings "We Shall Overcome," one of the many songs performed at the International Human Rights Day celebration.

The Serendipity Chorale sings "We Shall Overcome," one of the many songs performed at the International Human Rights Day celebration.

Photo Credit: Casey Donahue

The theme of the city’s 23rd Human Rights Day celebration was the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Speakers praised the good that has been accomplished since the passage of the act. But in the wake of events in Ferguson and New York City, where grand juries did not indict white police officers who caused the deaths of black men, they said it is clear the country has not achieved true equality.

“It’s sad that so many Americans still don’t feel as if they are born free and equal with dignity and rights,” said Adam Bovilsky, director of the Human Relations Commission.

He cited many statistics that demonstrate how minorities are more likely to attend poorly funded schools, get arrested, and be passed over for jobs than their white counterparts.

“Equality is simply not a reality yet, even in our enlightened country. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was just one stop on a very long road that leads towards equality. However, that final stop is sadly too far down the path for most of us to see.”

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling issued a proclamation marking the occasion. The country has made some progress in achieving the goals of the Civil Rights Act, he said, but still hasn’t come as far as it should have.

“Especially at times like right now, where we’re experiencing the tearing apart of the social fabric of our nation,” Rilling said in a nod to protests held over Ferguson and New York, “we really need to step back and make sure that all people are treated with respect and dignity, and have the right to live, to pursue their dreams and the rights of liberty and happiness and security.”

The keynote speaker for the event was Crystal Feimster, an associate professor of African American Studies and American Studies at Yale University. She spoke about the history of the passage of the Civil Rights Act and its aftermath.

“Though the struggle against racism would continue, legal segregation would be brought to its knees after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Even so, the struggle for equality is far from over. As transformative as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is and its successors have been, the exclusion, exploitation and discrimination that it targeted were deeply entrenched and have proved difficult to end,” Feimster said.

The passage of the act has continued to prompt new debates about equality and how it can be achieved in American society.

“The future of civil rights, like its past, will be shaped by citizens through participation in lobbying, litigation, politics and yes, public protest,” she said.

Darnell Crosland of the Norwalk chapter of the NAACP said that when he was in law school, famed African-American defense attorney Johnny Cochran told him the best way to fight racism was to graduate.

“What I say to you today is, we need to counter racism and not act like it doesn’t exist. And we need to do what Johnny Cochran said to me: graduate from the old thoughts we’ve had and graduate to a new paradigm, and that way we can move forward.”

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