Description of the video:
By 2020, Cynthia Martin, CEO, and President of the National Conference for Community and Justice thought she would be out of business. She did not consider the country would be fighting the same battles of equity and justice 20 years after she started working to address the issues that divide the country.
The National Conference for Community and Justice is a human relations organization that promotes inclusion and acceptance. The organization provides education and advocacy in racial, religion, and gender equity.
In this episode of CTLN Opinion+, we discussed racial equity and the ongoing conversation and work to achieve it in the workplace. NCCJ also offers programs to address anti-bullying and prejudice reduction for middle and high school.
Martin also addresses the difficulty in running an organization under a federal government that does not acknowledge racial and gender discrimination and inequity. In September the president issued an executive order on combating race and sex stereotyping. In the order, he claimed “people are pushing a different vision of America” and because of that reasoning, prohibited diversity training.
Martin expressed the importance and necessity of diversity education especially in all levels and institutions of government. The president’s latest executive order is being challenged by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Urban League, and National Fair Housing Alliance. The three organizations filed class-action lawsuits, finding the executive order unconstitutional.
While the executive order remains legal, the work of NCCJ and others like it are illegal. In a time when the country is in the midst of changing hands and the voice of the president-elect is to unite and to undo the damage of the last four years the work of the NCCJ and Cynthia Martin is important for understanding and growing as an individual and as a country.
