Today is Elizabeth Peratrovich day in #Alaska. A Łingit woman, her famous speech was key in passing the 1945 Anti-Discrimination Act.

"I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind gentlemen with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them, of our Bill of Rights."

was a response to:

"Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites, with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?" —Senator Allen Shattuck