On May 30, 2018, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) joined over 40 civil rights and civil liberties organizations in requesting the release of the unredacted version of the “Race Paper,” a document also known as the “Growing Frequency of Race-Related Domestic Terrorist Violence.”
As the letter explains:
NHMC demands that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) release this document immediately. The public has a right to know if and how DHS is using race or other constitutionally protected categories as indicators of violent behavior.
The organizations that signed on to the letter include:
American Civil Liberties Union
Arab American Institute
Brennan Center for Justice
Campaign for Liberty
Campaign for Youth Justice
Center for Democracy & Technology
Center for Media Justice
Color of Change
Defending Rights and Dissent
Demand Progress Action
18MillionRising.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Free Press
Free Speech Coalition
Government Information Watch
Human Rights Watch
Juvenile Justice Coalition (Ohio)
Law for Black Lives – DC
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Media Freedom Foundation
MPower Change
Muslim Advocates
Muslim Justice League
NAACP
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Hispanic Media Coalition
National Immigration Law Center
National Juvenile Justice Network
National Lawyers Guild
National LGBTQ Task Force
New America's Open Technology Institute
New Jersey Parents' Caucus
PEN America
Project Censored
Restore The Fourth
The Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law The Constitution Project at POGO
The Southern Poverty Law Center
United Congregations of Metro East (Illinois)
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
X-Lab
To read the full letter, click here.
The Race Paper’s existence came to light recently as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, but the document itself was released in entirely redacted form. However, DHS’s recently filed declaration indicates that the document was intended to survey growing trends in domestic terrorism driven by race-related “extremist” ideologies and address the co-opting of peaceful protests by violent ideological actors. The declaration also reveals that DHS believes it has identified common indicators displayed by those engaging in domestic terrorism.
