Readout of Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke’s Trip to Atlanta

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division traveled to Atlanta on March 20 to continue the Civil Rights Division’s tour to engage with stakeholders in underserved communities and reaffirm the department’s commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans.

In the morning, Assistant Attorney General Clarke participated in a fireside chat with Dr. Adrienne Jones, Ph.D. at Morehouse College, part of the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Consortium, a collaboration between four historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the heart of metropolitan Atlanta – Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College. Assistant Attorney General Clarke spoke with AUC students about her journey to becoming the first woman and first Black woman confirmed by the Senate to be the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division. She also discussed the Justice Department’s efforts to address some of the most pressing civil rights issues, including threats to voting rights, a rise in hate crimes, the racial wealth gaps, and encouraged students to reconsider careers in public service.

After her visit to Morehouse College, Assistant Attorney General Clarke joined a community stakeholder meeting convened with U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. During the meeting, they listened to and addressed concerns raised by local advocates from Black, Latino, Asian, Muslim, Jewish and LGBTQI+ communities.

She also met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. She thanked U.S. Attorney Buchanan and his staff for their service and commitment to protecting civil rights.

To conclude the trip, Assistant Attorney General Clarke delivered keynote remarks at a special meeting hosted by the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, a 102-year-old institution. She underscored the department’s commitment to protecting civil rights and discussed current and past efforts to combat hate crimes. She said, “We are working diligently to prosecute and prevent hate crimes, which have soared to some of their highest levels in decades. Since January 2021, the Civil Rights Division has charged more than 115 defendants in over 100 cases – a statistic that both illustrates the rising threat of hate-fueled violence and illustrates the work of our attorneys to pursue these notoriously complex cases.”

She also highlighted the recent work of the Civil Rights Division, including holding law enforcement officials accountable for misconduct, investigating unconstitutional prison conditions, protecting the right to vote, and ending modern-day redlining by banks and financial institutions.

As a part of this tour, Assistant Attorney General Clarke has traveled to underserved communities in Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina to discuss the department’s efforts to protect the civil rights of all Americans.