Statement by National Urban League President Hugh B. Price
Supporting Supreme Court’s Ruling on North Carolina’s 12^th District

New York, NY, April 19, 2001–Hugh B. Price, president of the National Urban League, the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream, issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold the legitimacy of North Carolina’s 12th District as currently configured:

"The National Urban League welcomes the Court’s decision in the North Carolina redistricting case.

It is a victory for the Civil Rights Movement and for all Americans who believe equal access to representation in our nation’s legislative bodies is a must if our nation is to achieve true equality. It is our hope and expectation that the many districts throughout our country that will soon be confronting the delicate issue of redistricting and assuring minority representation will use the court’s majority ruling as a guide in their decision-making.

Justice Stephen Breyer’s majority opinion that race may be considered in legislative redistricting so long as it is not the "dominant and controlling," factor speaks to the reality that in many of our nation’s districts minority groups are still not equally represented in their city councils, their state legislative bodies and in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Redistricting efforts such as that in North Carolina’s 12th District may be the only alternative to guarantee these minority voters equal access to representation in our nation’s political decision-making.

We applaud the Court’s decision and anticipate that it will be used as a model in future redistricting efforts. "

Hugh B. Price is President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Urban League. He was appointed on July 1, 1994. The Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic and social mainstream. The National Urban League, headquartered in New York City, spearheads the nonprofit, nonpartisan movement, while Urban League affiliates operate in more than 100 cities in 34 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit the League’s Web site at www.nul.org