People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas issued the following statement in response to the death of Coretta Scott King:

“Coretta Scott King’s death is a heartbreaking loss for America and for people of good will everywhere who shared her passion for equality and justice. She was an indomitable and inexhaustible force for good in a world that urgently needs it. She resisted every attempt to define some Americans out of the civil rights movement, and rejected every effort to exempt some Americans from the nation’s promise of equal justice under the law.

“It only adds to the tragedy that Mrs. King’s death—and that of Rosa Parks just a few months ago—comes as so many of our nation’s leaders are turning their backs on the principles to which King and Parks dedicated their lives. We now share the burden of upholding their legacy in the only way that counts—dedicating ourselves to continuing their work and their struggle. Let us be guided by their vision and sustained by their strength.”