The National Urban League declared a “state of emergency,” warning that civil rights and democracy are under attack, as it released its annual State of Black America report.
During its 2025 conference, Rhonda Spears Bells, the organization’s senior vice president and executive producer, said: “We face an administration unchecked by the courts, backed by Congress and driven by forces seeking to rewrite the Constitution.”
Since January, more than 247 lawsuits have been filed to fight anti-equity orders from the administration, including cases challenging the defunding of the NIH, the dismantling of DEI programs and illegal deportations.
At the same time, civil rights enforcement has dramatically weakened: the DOJ Civil Rights Division has been gutted; January 6 rioters have been pardoned; and election-tampering cases have been dropped. Meanwhile, the Voting Rights Act is being stripped even further.
Urban League President Marc Morial says, “A democracy willing to destroy itself rather than deliver justice is a democracy in crisis.”
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
