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Thousands Expected For 2015 National Urban League Conference

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The National Urban League chose Fort Lauderdale as the host city for the conference which runs from July 29 to August 1.  This year's theme is Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs and Justice.

CBS4 Anchor Irika Sargent sat down with National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial for a one-on-one interview covering a variety of topics.  The entire interview will air on Focus on South Florida with Irika Sargent, Sunday at 10am on MyTV 33.

Below, CBS4 has provided a preview of the interview.

One of the issues addressed was the National Urban League's views on how law enforcement treats minorities, given recent high profile cases like the arrest and death of Sandra Bland in Texas and the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland.  Here is part of what Morial had to say.

"We don't want to point the finger at every single police department and every single city across the nation," said Morial.  "But what we've seen is law enforcement that is out of sync with how to police the modern American city.  You see violence. You see police officers crossing the Constitutional line.  You see a quickness to respond with violent and deadly force.  This is unacceptable in 21st century America."

"If we are looking at what some of the critics would say, they talk about the other side of this, the people who are getting arrested and say their behavior needs to change, and their interaction with police. What is your response to that?" asked Sargent.

"It's important that police are there to protect and to serve and no doubt this is about police accountability," said Morial.  "And I don't think the issue should be switched.  Simply because one may have been rude to a police officer or spoken back to a police officer in the case of Sandra Bland does not justify the officer losing his temper, pulling her out of the car and then she ends up on the ground and in a jail cell for three days.  It's very, very important not to allow the issues to be confused."

The National Urban League has created a 10-point plan for law enforcement accountability.

Morial also discussed the Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls, like Hilary Clinton, Jeb Bush and Ben Carson, who will be speaking at the National Urban League conference.

For these topics and much more with Morial, watch Focus on South Florida with Irika Sargent, Sunday at 10am on MyTV 33.

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