ACLU Comment on the Passing of Civil Rights Hero Julian Bond

NEW YORK - Julian Bond, the former head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and civil rights icon, died on Saturday night. He was 75.

Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, had this comment:

The board of directors and the staff of the American Civil Liberties Union mourn the passing of Julian Bond, a civil rights leader and true hero.

As the chairperson of the NAACP, he was a monumental leader of the civil rights movement for decades. He was also an esteemed leader of the ACLU and served on the ACLU National Advisory Council where, in addition to his work on racial justice, he also pushed the needle forward on many other significant civil rights issues, including voting rights, free speech, women's rights, and more. The ACLU represented him in 1966 when he was elected to the Georgia state legislature but was blocked from serving because he publicly supported Vietnam draft resisters. The court ruled in Bond v. Floyd that criticizing U.S. foreign policy does not violate a legislator's oath to uphold the Constitution.

Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and to all who loved him. While we'll no longer be graced by the physical presence of Julian Bond, his legacy is marked in the history books and forever etched in our hearts.