NAACP calls for protests of GOP initiatives in North Carolina

The president of the North Carolina NAACP is calling for religious leaders to organize non-violent protests to bring attention to what he considers a Republican crusade against poor and minority residents.

William Barber urged leaders Monday to take action against the GOP supermajority in the state legislature, but he did not announce specific plans to demonstrate against a voter ID bill expected in the House on Wednesday.

The bill that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls is one of many Barber attacked as part of a wider agenda targeting poor and minority voters. He also criticized decisions against expanding Medicaid under federal health care reform, cutting unemployment benefits and ending the state’s earned income tax credit.

He says the NAACP could push back with lawsuits.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press