Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Delaware civil rights groups form coalition on eve of Trump inauguration

James Morrison
/
Delaware Public Media

About a dozen civil rights and religious groups in Delaware banded together on the eve of President-elect Trump's inauguration to fight discrimination.

 

The new group is called the Delaware Civil Rights Coalition, and it announced its formation Thursday at the Biggs Art Museum.

 

"Our idea is to stand together as a full response team. If something should happen to any community that violates civil rights, we will come together and act as a unit," said Kerri Evelyn Harris, a founder of the coalition who sits on Delaware’s Human Relations Commission.

 

The coalition will also work to educate Delawareans about different minority groups like Muslims and transgender people.

 

“Most of the issues we have is because we lack knowledge of one another. So instead of just standing and basing ourselves on a fight against negativity we plan to become a positive force within our community,” Harris said.

 

Harris said the coalition isn’t being formed in direct response to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential race.

 

She said plans for the coalition began before the November election because of a long term national trend of discrimination against minority groups.  

 

Delaware has some of the nation’s strongest anti-discrimination laws, but it has also seen its share of hate crimes, including a bomb threat at a Jewish community center Sunday and the vandalism of a mosque in 2013.

Related Content