Civil Rights Leaders Tell S.C. Republican Governor She Is a Minority, Too

Nikki Haley wants to defend voter ID laws opponent say are racist

Black civil rights leaders tired of her hard stance on issues like voter ID laws have told South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley that she is a minority, too.

Gov. Haley’s parents are from India and she is the first female governor in state history.

"She couldn't vote before 1965, just as I couldn't," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Added NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous:"At the end of the day, it's one more governor who is willing to deify the dreamer and desecrate the dream.”

On Dr. Martin Luther King day recently, Haley issued some of her most colorful comments on President Barack Obama, responding to the Justice Department’s rejection of the voter ID law.

"What they don't know is you don't mess with us in South Carolina," she said to cheers. "We're going to fight, and as much as President Obama has decided to continue his assaults on South Carolina, we're going to fight back."

North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber expressed dismay at Haley’s statement.

"It is quite eerie, on the day we remember Dr. King saying he hoped his children would grow up in a world where they would be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin, that a governor saying the content of my character is how many laws can I fight that have opened up democracy," he said.