THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ERA IS THE SAME AS THE OLD ONE

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted on August 10, 2026

Uncle Nearest founder and ousted CEO Fawn Weaver.

Whether it is stopping Donald Trump-controlled federal agencies and judges from robbing Fawn Weaver of her Uncle Nearest bourbon and whiskey company or trying to free Karmelo Anthony from his 35-year prison sentence, or seeking justice in the highly-questionable death of Nolan Wells, the new civil rights era is the same as the old one.

Donald Trump-controlled law enforcement agencies and judges are trying to rob Fawn Weaver of her valuable Uncle Nearest bourbon and whiskey company.

The most effective weapon in the civil rights arsenal from 1938 to 2006 was the aggressive and highly-skilled use of litigation in the courtroom. Civil rights lawyers during this period knew how to kick the asses of racists and sexists in the courtroom, and they were not afraid to do so.

I am talking about ass-kickers like Charles Hamilton Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Orzell Billingsley, Constance Baker Motley, Barbara Jordan, Jewel Lafontant, Arthur Shores, Fred D. Gray, Nathaniel S. Colley, Oscar W. Adams, Jr., Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Charles Langford, J.L. Chestnut, Elaine Jones, Audrey Lattimore Gaston, U.W. Clemon, J.U. Blacksher, Ed Still, Larry Menefee, Greg Stein, Joe Whatley, Jack Drake, Leslie Proll, Candis A. McGowan, Michael Figures, Willie Gary, H. Lewis Gillis, and Johnnie Cochran.

Through a series of executive orders and his court-packing at the Supreme Court, Trump has effectively dragged Black Americans and other historically disadvantaged and disfavored groups back into a suffocating, oppressive, violent, dreadful, and dark period, once again. What is more, Trump's MAGA cult followers gloat like the cheering white revilers in the lynch mob photos from 1882 to 1964. Trump has made racism, sexism, violence, and cruelty against disfavored Americans fashionable, again.

Today’s civil rights lawyers must move beyond media-friendly news conferences and “feel good” rallies. They must suit-up and go into the courtroom to unapologetically kick the asses of the practitioners of racism, sexism, and other forms of politically-sanctioned bigotry.

Karmelo Anthony’s new legal team has entered the courtroom. They must kick the asses of state prosecutors in a clear and convincing way.

Led by Ben Crump, Nolan Wells' legal team must find effective legal theories that allow them to enter the courtroom, too. Once they go into litigation, they must kick ass on an unrelenting basis.

Nothing else works. Trump and his MAGA followers may not like ass-kicking lawyers, but everybody respects a lawyer with a proven record of kicking ass and winning his/her cases in the gladiator pit.

It's time for today's civil rights lawyers who represent disfavored Americans to display some serious ass-kicking skills.