Michigan News
(2008-09-15)
DETROIT
(Michigan Radio) -
Detroit could be a focus of efforts to track down information about unsolved civil rights-era murders.The U.S. Senate could vote soon on the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act. The legislation would provide $135 million for investigating and prosecuting civil rights-era murders over the next decade.
Alvin Sykes is president of the Emmett Till Justice Campaign. He says $15 million would be spent on community outreach in places like Detroit.
"Most of the victims and family members of the victims left the south," said Sykes. "They went north. Chicago and Detroit are major cities - they're not just minor, they're major cities where these people are at."
Sykes is speaking this week in Detroit at an international human rights conference.
Contact Sarah Hulett at sarahhu@umich.edu © Copyright 2009, Michigan Radio
