After Buffalo, civil rights leaders pitch anti-hate plans

The nation’s oldest civil rights organization said it will propose a sweeping plan meant to protect Black Americans from white supremacist violence in response to a hatefueled massacre that killed 10 Black people in Buffalo, N.Y., last weekend.

In a plan first shared with The Associated Press, the NAACP suggests a policy approach to stopping future acts of anti-Black domestic terrorism that involves law enforcement, business regulation and gun control. The proposal points to measures that could be taken up immediately by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Specifically, the plan calls for holding accountable any corporation that is complicit in the spread of bigotry and racism through news media and on social platforms, for enacting gun violence prevention measures that keep mass-casualty weapons out of the hands of would-be assailants and for reforming police practices so Black Americans experience the same de-escalation tactics often used to peacefully apprehend murderous white supremacists.

Saturday’s premeditated attack by an avowed racist on Black shoppers at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo made it clear that “democracy and white supremacy cannot co-exist,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said.

He is scheduled to meet with Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday, a spokesperson for the civil rights group said.

The NAACP revealed its proposal as Black leaders across the country fret about inaction on the part of elected leaders to prevent domestic terror attacks by white supremacists against Black Americans.

Matt Rourke / Associated Press People gather outside the scene of a shooting at a supermarket, in Buffalo, N.Y., on Sunday. The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, said it will propose a sweeping plan meant to protect Black Americans from white supremacist violence.