In a powerful new report released Thursday, July 17, the National Urban League has declared the state of Black America to be in a full-blown emergency, citing sweeping attacks on civil rights, democracy, and hard-won progress. Titled “State of Emergency: Civil Rights, Democracy & Progress Under Attack,” the 2025 State of Black America® report outlines what the League calls an unprecedented and deliberate assault on the nation’s democratic institutions and civil liberties—many of which directly affect Black Americans and other communities of color.
The report, unveiled during the League’s annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio, draws from the insights of scholars, civil rights attorneys, elected officials, and grassroots organizers. Its central warning: America is witnessing a strategic and deeply coordinated rollback of racial equity, voting rights, and legal protections at nearly every level of government.
According to National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial, the threats are no longer theoretical. “A democracy willing to destroy itself rather than deliver justice is a democracy in crisis,” he stated. “This is not business as usual. This is an emergency.”
Among the most alarming developments, the report points to the dismantling of federal departments and policies that once championed civil rights, including the radical reshaping of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Within weeks of the current administration taking office, voting rights cases were dropped, civil rights enforcement mechanisms were hollowed out, and new legal directives began targeting diversity and inclusion efforts across schools, corporations, and public institutions. The DOJ’s new leadership has even encouraged lawsuits against companies with race-conscious hiring or grantmaking programs, under the guise of opposing “reverse discrimination.”
The Voting Rights Act of 1965—long considered a cornerstone of American democracy—is now under siege. The report describes how recent legal attacks threaten Section 2 of the law, which enables individuals and organizations to challenge racially discriminatory voting laws. If successful, these efforts could render communities of color powerless to contest redistricting plans, voter ID laws, or language-access rollbacks. Since January, the report notes, federal actions have included bans on mail-in voting, early voting restrictions, and proposals to eliminate translation services, all of which stand to disenfranchise Black, disabled, immigrant, and elderly voters.
Civil rights advocates featured in the report emphasize that these policies are not isolated, but part of a broader reactionary movement fueled by far-right ideology and amplified by conservative media. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and a national reckoning on race, the backlash has gained legal, political, and financial traction.
What began as anonymous attacks on “wokeness” and equity programs on social media platforms has now metastasized into state and federal law. “The arc of history does not bend toward justice on its own—it must be bent by those with the strength and will to see it through,” said Morial.
Digital platforms, once a vital tool for organizing and advocacy, have also turned hostile. The report highlights how content moderation teams have been slashed at major companies like Meta, YouTube, and Twitter (now X), creating a rise in hate speech and disinformation. Progressive voices are being shadow banned or purged, while far-right accounts flourish. Activists fear that this digital erasure of marginalized communities mirrors the political erasure underway in courts and legislatures.
Still, the National Urban League insists this moment is not without hope. The organization has positioned itself as a leading force in what it calls the “New Resistance.” Through its Equitable Justice and Strategic Initiatives (EJSI) division, the League has pushed for sweeping police and justice reforms via its “21 Pillars” framework, supported record expungement through the Urban Expungement Program, and led legal challenges against anti-DEI executive orders alongside the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Lambda Legal.
Additionally, the League helped launch the Fair Budget Coalition to ensure the upcoming federal budget reflects equity and inclusion, and has convened national leaders across sectors through the Demand Diversity Roundtable to build coordinated resistance to anti-equity attacks.
Contributors to the report include high-profile voices such as U.S. Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and Steven Horsford, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke. Each warns of the dangerous consequences if Americans fail to act. “We cannot stand by while those who oppose progress weaken the pillars of democracy,” the report states.
Now in its 49th year, the State of Black America® report remains one of the nation’s most authoritative annual barometers of racial progress and regression. Born out of the civil rights movement and first published in 1976, the report has grown into a vital policy tool and rallying cry for justice. In 2025, that cry is louder than ever.
The full report, executive summaries, and action toolkits are available at www.stateofblackamerica.org.
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