A Discussion of Race Worth Having
Cynthia McKinney, 20.03.2008 10:19
A real discussion of race,
in the context of a Presidential election, ought to include a
discussion of the various public policy initiatives offered by
the various candidates to eliminate all forms and vestiges of
racial discrimination, including the racial disparities that
cloud the hopes, dreams, and futures of millions of Americans.
Much has been made around the edges of this campaign about the
issue of race. Sadly, nothing has been made of the public
policy exigencies that arise because of the urgent racial
disparities that continue to exist in our country. Just last
week, the United Nations criticized the United States, again,
for its failure to address the issues arising from the rights,
particularly the right of return, of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita survivors. Author Bill Quigley writes in "The Cleansing
of New Orleans," that half of the working poor, elderly,
and disabled of New Orleans have not been able to return.
Two weeks ago, United Nations experts on housing and minority
rights called for an immediate end of public housing demolitions
in New Orleans. Now, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination, ratified by the U.S. in 1994, further observes
that the U.S. must do more to protect and support the African
American community. In 2006, the United Nations Human Rights
Commission "noted its concern that while African Americans
constitute just 12% of the population, they represent 50%
of homeless people, and the government is required to take
'adequate and adequately implemented' measures to remedy this
human rights violation." In short, the United Nations has
issued reports squarely calling for the United States to do
more to eliminate racial discrimination and this discrimination
is a human rights violation.
I am deeply offended that in the middle of a Presidential
campaign, remarks--be they from a pastor or a communications
mogul, or a former Vice Presidential nominee--are the cause
of a focus on race, and not the deep racial disparities
that communities are forced to endure on a daily basis in
this country.
Myriad reports and studies that have been done all come up
with the same basic conclusion: in order to resolve deep and
persisting racial disparities in this country, a public policy
initiative is urgently needed. A real discussion of race,
in the context of a Presidential election, ought to include a
discussion of the various public policy initiatives offered by
the various candidates to eliminate all forms and vestiges of
racial discrimination, including the racial disparities that
cloud the hopes, dreams, and futures of millions of Americans.
For example, every year on the anniversary of the birth of
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. United for a Fair Economy publishes
a study of the true state of people of color in America called
the "State of the Dream Report." And it was their 2004 report
that noted that without public policy intervention, it would
take 1,664 years to close the racial gap in home ownership in
this country. And that on some indices, for example, infant
mortality, the racial disparities were worse at the time of
the report than at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
In their 2005 report, entitled, "Disowned," United for a Fair
Economy explored the disparate impact of Bush's "Ownership
Society" economic program that saw Black and Latino lives
shattered as unemployment, income, home ownership, business
ownership, and stock ownership plummeted even in the face of
Administration economists trumpeting the phenomenal "growth"
of the U.S. economy as a result of their policies.
In 2006, United for a Fair Economy focused on the devastating
and embarrassing effect of government inaction before,
during, and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They focused
on something as simple as car ownership and the relationship
between vehicle ownership and race. In the case of New Orleans,
car ownership literally meant the difference between losing
or saving one's life.
In 2007, United for a Fair Economy explored the Black voters'
attachment to the Democratic Party, and in a piece entitled,
"Voting Blue, but Staying in the Red," they explored goals that
the Democratic Party should have put at the top of its agenda
for its first 100 hours in the majority. While noting that
the Democrats didn't even mention Katrina in their agenda,
United for a Fair Economy concluded that Blacks and Latinos
voted in the November 2006 elections in the blue, but due to
a failure of public policy that pays attention to their needs,
they continue to live in the red.
In their 2008 report, United for a Fair Economy explores the
sub-prime mortgage crisis and note that the largest loss of
wealth in U.S. history is being experienced by the Black and
Latino communities with an estimated $92 billion being lost
by Blacks and an estimated $98 billion being lost by Latinos.
And while families are losing their life savings and the only
major investment that they own, policy makers are asking
them to tighten their belts. But the predator banks' CEOs
are walking away with record remuneration. And our policy
makers are notable for their inaction: first on the predatory
lending that disproportionately affects Blacks and Latinos, and
then on offering relief so that homeowners remain homeowners,
including in the midst of this crisis.
Sadly, United for a Fair Economy isn't the only research
organization to find glaring and intolerable disparities
in our society by race and no appropriate public policies
enacted to address them. Hull House did a study that found
that it would take 200 years to close the gap in the quality
of life experienced by black Chicagoans and white Chicagoans.
There has been no public policy initiative taken up by the
mayor or the governor of Illinois to begin closing that gap.
Several years ago, the New York Times published a finding that
nearly half the men between the ages of 16 and 64 in New York
City were unemployed. There was no initiative by the mayor
or the governor of New York to begin addressing such pain.
Every year, the National Urban League publishes a study, "The
State of Black America," in which the ills and disparities
that persist in this country are catalogued. Every year,
the story is basically the same. The United States has a
way to go that only public policy can address. However,
when Harvard University/The Kaiser Family Foundation did a
study on White attitudes about race several years ago, it
found that Whites have little appreciation for the reality of
Black life in America, from police harassment and intimidation,
to imprisonment, to family income, unemployment, housing, and
health care. But without an appreciation of the reality faced
by many of our fellow Americans, the necessary public policy
initiatives to change those realities will find difficulty
gaining acceptance in the public discourse.
Additionally, compounding the problem, there is little public
discourse because the corporate press refuse to cover the
deep implications of the results of all these studies. I am
convinced that if the American people knew the truth of the
conditions, change would surely follow. I believe that to be
the case because of the impact of the images of "Bloody Sunday"
on the passage of the Voting Rights Act. I believe that to
be the case because of the impact of the images of the Vietnam
War on the turn of the tide of public opinion against that War.
This moment sheds light on a much-needed discussion: on
race and the legacies of race and slavery and the continuing
problems associated with our failure to treat racism as a
curable American disease.
I am glad that candidate Obama mentioned the existing racial
disparities in education, income, wealth, jobs, government
services, imprisonment, and opportunity. Now it is time
to address the public policies necessary to resolve these
disparities. Now it is time to have the discussion on how we
are going to come together and put policies in effect that will
provide real hope and real opportunity to all in this country.
To narrow the gap between the ideals of our founding fathers
and the realities faced by too many in our country today:
That must be the role of public policy at this critical moment
in our country today.
I welcome a real discussion of race in this country and a
resolve to end the long-standing disparities that continue
to spoil the greatness of our country. I welcome a real
discussion of all the issues that face our country today and
the real public policy options that exist to resolve them.
That must be the measure of this campaign season. For many
voters, this important discussion has been too vague or
completely non-existent. Now is the time to talk about the
concrete measures that will move our country forward: on race,
war, climate change, the economy, health care, and education.
Our votes and our political engagement must be about ensuring
that fairness truly for all is embodied in "liberty and justice
for all."
Power to the People Committee,
Cynthia McKinney for President
http://www.runcynthiarun.org/
jackson county pacific green party
e-mail:: souixzan@mind.net