Northern California ACLU to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Racial Profiling

May 11, 1999 12:00 am

Media Contact
125 Broad Street
18th Floor
New York, NY 10004
United States

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 11, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO — At a “town hall” meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 25, the Oakland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and PUEBLO — People United for a Better Oakland — have invited East Bay residents to tell their stories of race-based police stops.

Michelle Alexander, Director of the ACLU of Northern California’s Racial Justice Project, will speak about the problem of racial profiling and the project’s efforts to stop race-based traffic stops by California law enforcement agencies.

Alexander will also report on SB 78, a bill in the state Legislature which would require law enforcement to collect data on the race and ethnicity of all drivers who are stopped.

Also speaking will be D’wayne Wiggins of the popular recording group Tony! Toni! Tone! Wiggins will play a song about his own experience, entitled, “Driving While Black or Brown.”

State assemblypersons Dion Aroner and Audie Bock are also scheduled to attend the meeting.

The May 25 meeting will be held from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. P.D.T. at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland.

On April 14, the ACLU of Northern California announced a statewide campaign to publicize its “Driving While Black or Brown” hotline, 1-877-DWB-STOP (1-877-392-7867.) The Spanish language hotline is 1-877-Páralos, 1-877-727-2567. Since the hotline’s debut in October 1998, more than 1400 persons have called to report their stories of race-based police traffic stops.

Every month, you'll receive regular roundups of the most important civil rights and civil liberties developments. Remember: a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.