Springfield, IL. — In response to the Biden-Harris administration’s designation of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) released the following statements:
“Thanks to the tireless advocacy of the Springfield branch of the NAACP and local advocates and activists, the Biden-Harris administration has established a national monument to acknowledge the tragic Springfield massacre and other forms of racial violence against Black people in our nation’s history,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “The 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument confronts one of the country’s most brutal instances of mass anti-Black violence and serves as a testament to the courage of Black leaders, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who fought to end racial violence. LCV commends the Biden-Harris administration for further cementing its legacy of honoring and protecting our nation’s cultural heritage, public lands and historical sites, and encourages the administration to build on this legacy by continuing to champion the protection of our nation’s public lands and cultural sites.”
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“We applaud the Biden-Harris administration for designating the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a National Monument, and commend our partners at the Springfield branch of the NAACP, Sierra Club Illinois, Faith Coalition for the Common Good, and countless local activists for their work to advocate for this designation,” said IEC State Government Affairs Director, and long-time Springfield resident, Ariel Hampton. “The mass racial violence in Springfield in 1908 has reverberated across the past century, and the impacts continue to be felt in Springfield and across Illinois. Today, Black residents in Springfield are more likely to experience environmental injustices like air pollution from the Dallman coal plant and water contamination from lead pipes. As we work to mitigate these injustices, this National Monument will serve as a reminder to learn from our history so as not to repeat it.”
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In 2022, LCV and IEC sent a letter to the National Park Service urging President Biden to protect the Springfield site to acknowledge our nation’s terrible legacy of racial violence and to tell the story of Black leadership to overcome that legacy by designating the 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument.
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