In the wake of state-threatened disciplinary actions against school systems and students expressing their concerns over gun violence, the Georgia NAACP released the following statement:
“The State conference of the Georgia NAACP is deeply concerned by public statements from school systems across the State threatened disciplinary action against students exercising their constitution right to protest in the wake of the school shootings in Parkland, Florida.
‘We support the peaceful exercise of free speech for the students of Georgia and we will support their voices’ states President Phyllis Blake of Georgia NAACP. ‘We understand that numerous students are planning to protest on March 14 with the National School Walk Out for 17 minutes in Georgia.’
Numerous school systems have threatened disciplinary action against the students that participate. ‘We want to remind the school officials that Tinker V. De Moines Community School District (1969) guarantees the student certain Civil Rights, no school system should deter peaceful protest and we will support the students against any unlawful action that harms that right,’ Blake states.”
The Georgia State Conference of the NAACP hopes that School Systems across the State of Georgia will allow the peaceful expression of young people for the National School Walkout. We are prepared to assist the students in defending those rights in Georgia courts if necessary.
Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The NAACP, Georgia State Conference has had an unbroken presence in Georgia since 1917. The NAACP, Georgia State Conference maintains a network of branches throughout Georgia, from cities to small rural counties. The NAACP, Georgia State Conference has been the most effective and consistent advocates for civil and human rights in Georgia.
