The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today expressed support for efforts to honor a Black World War II veteran who was murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi more than six decades ago after local officials rejected a proposal to rename a road in his memory.
The family of Clifton Earl Walker, a Black veteran who was fatally shot in Wilkinson County, Mississippi, in 1964 in what historians believe was the first killing carried out by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, sought to have the road where he was murdered renamed in his honor.
The Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors recently rejected the request after some residents objected to changing their addresses. Walker’s family has since proposed alternative ways to commemorate his life and sacrifice, including the placement of a historical marker.
In a statement, Washington, D.C., based CAIR said:
“Clifton Earl Walker served his nation in uniform only to become a victim of the racist hatred and white supremacist violence that plagued the Jim Crow South. His family’s effort to ensure that his story is remembered deserves broad public support. Communities across our nation should honor those who suffered and died because of racial terrorism, not erase or ignore their history.”
“At a time when some seek to downplay or rewrite the history of white supremacist violence in America, memorializing victims like Clifton Earl Walker helps ensure that future generations understand the human cost of racism and hate. We urge local officials to work with Walker’s family to establish a meaningful and permanent tribute to his life, military service, and legacy.”
Earlier today, CAIR condemned the distribution of white supremacist mailers in Tennessee reportedly linked to a local Republican Party official and called on political leaders of all parties to unequivocally reject racist and extremist ideology.
CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging systemic anti-Black racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com