Bio
Dennis Parker (@DennisDParker) was director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, leading its efforts in combating discrimination and addressing other issues with a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Parker oversaw work to combat the “School-to-Prison” pipeline, the profiling of airline passengers subjected to searches and wrongfully placed on watch lists and the racial bias in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining the ACLU, Parker was the chief of the Civil Rights Bureau in the Office of New York State Attorney General under Eliot Spitzer. He previously spent 14 years at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Parker has also worked with the New York Legal Aid Society. He teaches Race, Poverty and Constitutional Law at New York Law School. He graduated from Harvard Law School and Middlebury College.
Featured work
![Ben Eaton, Mary Schaeffer, Esther Calhoun, and Ellis Long (from left to right)](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog16-uniontown_defendants-1160x768-400x266.jpg)
Jun 2, 2016
In This Poor, Black, Polluted Alabama Town, Speaking Up Gets You Sued
![Mizzou Protest at Ohio State](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/mizzou_protest_at_ohio_state-400x266.jpg)
Nov 13, 2015
Racial Justice and Free Speech Are Not Mutually Exclusive
![Hands Up Don't Shoot](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web15-blog-justice_fergusonsign-1160x768_0-400x266.jpg)
Sep 23, 2015
‘The Gray Wastes’ Are Built Upon Structures of Exclusion and Violence
![The Confederate Monument in South Carolina](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog15-scconfederatemonument-1160x768-400x266.jpg)
Jun 26, 2015
Take Down the Confederate Flag? Of Course, but Cure the Disorder That Caused It to Be Raised in the First Place
![African American man in front of a house](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/9372426519_6704859b7d_o-400x266.jpg)
Jun 25, 2015
Why Today Was a Battle Won in the War Against Racial Discrimination
![The National Council of Negro Women Photo: Elvert Barnes/Flickr](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/blog15-nationalcouncilnegrowomen-1160x768-400x266.jpg)
Jun 23, 2015
The Progress We've Made Is Vulnerable, Unless We Act to Protect Future Generations