News

The Equal Rights Center Receives Award From the Hispanic Bar Association of D.C.

Washington, DC, November 8, 2007 – The Equal Rights Center (ERC) has been selected by the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia (HBA-DC) to receive the 2007 Hugh A. Johnson Jr. Memorial Award for an organization that devotes substantial efforts toward the advancement of the Latino community.

The ERC was selected based on its civil rights work in numerous Hispanic immigrant communities, including Prince William and Manassas, VA. The award will be presented to the ERC at the HBA-DC 30th Anniversary Celebration on Friday, November 9, 2007 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Rabbi Bruce E. Kahn, the executive director of the Equal Rights Center said, “The illegal discrimination, directed against immigrants, especially against Latinos, by too many public officials and private citizens alike is unjust and un-American. And our moral compass has been damaged by too many office holders trying to find their way around truth to realize short term political gain. The ERC is fighting back with some effect as is made clear by our receiving the prestigious Hugh A. Johnson Memorial Award from the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia. It is indeed humbling to be so honored.”

Kahn added, “Truth is abandoned when we are told immigration law is simple and easy to enforce. Truth is covered up when we fail to face the violent, cruel oppression visited upon so many guest workers in our country. Truth is humiliated in proclamations that claim our economy would do better with fewer immigrants working here. It is time for truth to enter the debate on immigration rather than trying to score political points by appealing to the worst it is in us to be. The Equal Rights Center is determined to strengthen the presence of the truth and adherence to civil rights protections wherever they are under attack, most of all in Greater Washington.”

The Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia (HBA-DC) is a non-profit organization, which was originally founded in 1977 as the Hispanic Lawyers Association. Its membership includes several hundred lawyers practicing in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, Latino students attending law schools, and other non-lawyers who join as associate members. The HBA-DC is affiliated with the Hispanic National Bar Association, a national network of Hispanic lawyers and bar associations.

Originally established in 1983 as the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, the Equal Rights Center is a private, not-for-profit, civil rights agency that is now a product of mergers with both the Fair Employment Council in 1999 and the Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington on June 30, 2005. It is dedicated to identifying, challenging, and eliminating discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and government services through education, research, testing, counseling, enforcement, and advocacy. To obtain more information about the Equal Rights Center, please go to www.equalrightscenter.org or call the Equal Rights Center at 202.234.3062.

For more information contact:

Rabbi Bruce E. Kahn, 202.234.3062, ext. 1101
Executive Director, Equal Rights Center
bkahn@equalrightscenter.org

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