Activists are charging the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority with violating the civil rights of a half-million bus riders, 75 percent of them black or Latino, by cutting 1 million hours of bus service and raising monthly bus passes to $72 while giving away public funds to rail developers and contractors. Consequently, community groups are calling on President Obama to employ Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gives the executive branch of the US government the power to cut off federal funds from any agency that employs federal funding in a racist or discriminatory manner.

Join The Nation in partnership with the Labor/Community Strategy Center’s Fight for the Soul of the Cities campaign and urge the Obama administration and Congress to enforce the Civil Rights Act.

In his recent Nation essay, Eric Mann details how progressive activists can learn important lessons from a successful grassroots campaign against transit racism.

The Bus Riders Union and its allies gathered at LA City Hall on July 25, 2012 to launch their national campaign asking President Obama to restore, enforce and expand their civil rights.