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CLOSE HOLD
'99 MAR 19 AM11:45
OUT OF MANY, ONE:
RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
President Clinton's Report to the Nation
Draft
March 1999
OUT OF MANY, ONE:
RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
President Clinton's Report to the Nation
Draft
March 1999
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Tab 1
Part I: The America We See
A. Introduction
B. Demographics
C. Disparities
D. Discrimination
E. Intergroup Relations
F. Conclusion
Tab 2
Part II: The America We Want (to be delivered on 3/22)
Tab 3
Part III: The Opportunity We Deserve
1. A High-Quality Education for All
2. Jobs, Neighborhoods and Economic Development (to be delivered on 3/22)
3. Community Security, and a Criminal Justice System That Serves All
Americans Fully and Fairly
4. Civil Rights Law Enforcement (to be delivered on 3/22)
5. Creating Opportunities for Native Americans
Tab 4
Part IV: The Community We Must Build
A. Introduction
B. Civic Engagement
C. Lessons Learned From the Race Initiative: Promising Practices for Racial
Reconciliation and Building One America
D. Conclusion
Tab 5
Part V: The Leadership We Need
A. Introduction
B. Community Leadership and Action
C. Sectoral Leadership and Action
D. Federal Leadership and Action
Tab 6
Conclusion (to be drafted after input from the President)
MISSING*
--as of March 17, 1999--
Part II: The America We Want ("Vision"), is summarized in the introduction, infra,
and will be completed 3/22. Approximately 40 double-spaced pages in length, it presents
the vision and then applies it in a (hopefully) thoughtful discussion of a series of vexing
questions around which Americans have differing perceptions and views.
Part III, Section 2: Jobs, Neighborhoods and Economic Development, approximately
20 pages, will be completed 3/20. It focuses on: breaking the epidemic of unemployment
among young adults (especially men) in high-poverty minority communities; harnessing
the power of markets to drive job creation in distressed communities, building on APICs
to create, over time, a National Community Investment System comparable in ambition
to the multi-component system we have developed since the Depression to support home
ownership; and reinvigorating the ideal of integrated communities.
Part III, Section 4: Civil Rights Law Enforcement, will be completed 3/20. It focuses
on the more traditional agenda of antidiscrimination law enforcement. Approximately 35
pages long, it is balanced between: touching the expected bases with a few new twists;
identifying discrimination issues that have new salience because of changing
demographics; and suggesting how the antidiscrimination paradigm can be harnessed to
the opportunity agenda.
Conclusion, awaits your guidance.
*N.B.: Fact-checking and footnote cleaning are on-going.
Introduction
March 17, 1999
OUT OF MANY, ONE:
RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA
Grandfather
Look at our brokenness.
We know that in all creation
Only the human family
Has strayed from the Sacred Way
We know that we are the ones
Who are divided
And we are the ones
Who must come back together
To walk in the Sacred Way
Grandfather,
Sacred One,
Teach us love, compassion, and honor
That we may heal the earth
And heal each other.
--Ojibway Prayer
(Intro)-1
Introduction
March 17, 1999
America's greatest promise in the 21st century lies in our ability
to harness the strength of our racial diversity. The greatest challenge
facing Americans is to accept and take pride in defining ourselves as a
multi-racial democracy. At the end of the 20th century, America has
emerged as the worldwide symbol of opportunity and freeedom through
leadership that constantly strives to give meaning to democracy's
fundamental principles. These principles-justice, opportunity, equality,
and racial inclusion-must continue to guide the planning for our future.
-Report of The President's Advisory Board,
President's Initiative on Race¹¹
1
The Advisory Board's Report to the President, President's Initiative on Race, One America
in the 21st Century: Forging a New Future p.1 (GPO, 1998).
(Intro)-2
Introduction
March 17, 1999
INTRODUCTION
At century's end, color in America remains a vexing paradox of ideals and
ordeals, of hopes and fears. We must embark on the new century recommitted to right
the wrongs. To do so, we must set a course that leaves behind our tainted legacy,
leading us to strengthen opportunity, unite in a new spirit of community, and to redeem
the purity of our individual hearts.
We are rightfully upheld in the eyes of the world as the most successful multi-
racial democracy in human history. Emerging democracies and nations in the throes of
horrific, often bloody ancient ethnic conflicts look to America as a model of peaceful
co-existence. But, in our best moments we have always aspired to a higher standard --
one in which we not only tolerate difference, but actually celebrate the many races and
cultures that make America. After more than 200 years, we still struggle to live by our
Nation's founding creed, "that all men are created equal."
Each year, nearly a million people come legally to America. Today, nearly one
in ten people in the United States was born in another country; one in five
schoolchildren are from immigrant families. Today, largely because of immigrants,
there is no majority race in Hawaii or Houston or New York City. In nine of our ten
(Intro)-1
Introduction
March 17, 1999
largest public school systems, over 75 percent of the students are minorities. Within
five years there will be no majority race in our largest state, California. In a little more
than 50 years there will be no majority race in the United States.
All of this is happening against a backdrop of unparalleled peace and prosperity.
Our economy has never been stronger. Our people have never been more confident in
the future. And in the absence of a compelling racial crisis like the riots of the 1960s,
many of our citizens have been lulled into thinking that America's racial problems are a
thing of the past. That is simply not true.
An old enemy still lurks in the shadows. It continues to poison our perceptions,
undermine our progress and threaten our future. Racism has been America's constant
curse, predating the nation's founding by a century and a half. And race has also been
our constant struggle. Many lives have been lost, many dreams deferred while we have
grappled with this demon. And truth has too often also been a casualty, caught in the
crossfire of our contradictions.
Consider this: We were born with a Declaration of Independence which asserted
that we were all created equal and a Constitution that enshrined slavery. We fought a
bloody civil war to abolish slavery and preserve the union, but we remained a house
(Intro)-2
Introduction
March 17, 1999
divided and unequal by law for another century. We advanced across the continent in
the name of freedom, yet in doing so we pushed Native Americans off their land, often
crushing their culture and their livelihood. Our Statue of Liberty welcomes poor, tired,
huddled masses of immigrants to our shores, but each new wave has felt the sting of
discrimination, and for many that discrimination has burdened their native-born
children and grandchildren. It is time we faced these contradictions squarely as a
critical step, not only to healing the wounds of our past, but also of unleashing the
power and promise of our future. We must become One America in the 21st century.
It is my hope that this report will help lay the foundation for a renewed national
commitment to racial healing in America. At the beginning of this century, the great
African American scholar and civil rights leader W.E.B. Dubois said that "The
problem of the 20th century will be the problem of the color line." He was right.
America's color line started centuries ago and stretches into our lives today. It was
right there, plain as day, throughout my childhood in the segregated south.
As a boy growing up in the 1950s and early 60s in segregated Arkansas, I was
perplexed by the stark lines drawn in black and white that separated neighbor from
neighbor. The black children went to different schools, ate at different restaurants. The
rough gravel streets they walked and played on stood in bleak contrast to the smooth
(Intro)-3
Introduction
March 17, 1999
paved roadways on the white side of town.
But these disparities were mostly background music to me until 1957, when the
high stakes drama of the Little Rock Nine shook me and the nation out of our
indifference. I was only 11 years old at the time. Like most southerners then, I never
attended school with a person of another race until I went to college. But the reality of
unequal treatment based on race had always gnawed at me. When I saw the courage
and sacrifice of those nine black children who endured constant attacks, both physical
and emotional, to integrate Little Rock's Central High School, I realized how important
the struggle for equality is. Little Rock made racial equality a driving obsession in my
life, and I have done all I could to make it a reality.
After I launched the national Initiative on Race in San Diego in 1997, people
asked me, why, in the absence of any similar great national crisis, should the American
people focus anew on the challenge of racial reconciliation. That is a good question,
and it has a good answer. I believe there is no more critical mission for our nation than
to ensure that our diversity is not the great problem, but the great promise of the 21st
century. This effort is especially important right now because, as we grow more
diverse, our ability to deal with the new challenges this presents will determine whether
we really bind ourselves together or tear ourselves apart. And even more importantly,
(Intro)-4
Introduction
March 17, 1999
our ability to exercise world leadership for peace, freedom and prosperity in a world
gripped with tense racial and ethnic and religious conflicts depends in large part on our
ability to be a model for the world.
Consider also the great untapped potential of our expanding diversity. In the
global economy of the 21st century, where free trade and open markets will link nations
in new partnerships for mutual progress, it will be to our advantage that America looks
like the world. It is already happening. Andrew Young -- former mayor, Congressman
and U.N. Ambassador -- credits the diversity of his marketing team for landing the
Olympics in Atlanta. When members of our Armed Forces join with soldiers of nations
from every continent to preserve peace or provide humanitarian aid in far flung regions
of the globe, America's diversity is a strength. Our shuttle missions and space
explorations are increasingly conducted by multi-national teams, working side by side
in space and in the process building bridges of trust and understanding right here on
earth.
To those who say "Why now?" I say because our work is not yet done. It is
true that we have moved out of the epicenter of racism that rocked our nation from the
time of the Indian conquest and slavery until the great breakthroughs of the civil rights
era. But we are still experiencing the aftershocks. Though people of color have more
(Intro)-5
Introduction
March 17, 1999
opportunities than ever today, we still see evidence of unequal treatment. It is borne
out most strikingly in the litany of disparities in jobs and wealth, in education, in
criminal justice that so often still break down along the color line.
and
If we are ever going to truly overcome) we must begin to see our diversity as a
source of solidarity and strength, not division and weakness. And we must begin by
first, getting the facts right and then daring to be honest with ourselves and each other.
That was one of the most potent reasons I launched the nation's first presidential
initiative on race in 1998. And that is one of the core goals of this report.
In these pages, I will offer a rough blueprint and a\bold challenge that calls
every citizen to action in a renewed commitment to racial reconciliation. I will lay out
three pathways for our journey: the pathway of opportunity, taking steps to make sure
everyone benefits from America's growing prosperity by closing the opportunity gap;
the pathway of community, building stronger bridges to connect people across lines of
class and color by challenging them to take personal responsibility for uniting around a
common agenda; and the pathway of the heart, coming to grips with the conscious and
unconscious ways our obsession with race has distorted our views of ourselves and
each other.
(Intro)-6
Introduction
March 17, 1999
0
In Part I, The America We See, will present? the facts about race in America
today, including demographic trends, evidence of disparities, and evidence of progress.
In Part II, The America We Want I will outliné my vision for the future by
challenging us to think outside the box about a set of vexing questions surrounding our
growing diversity. In Part III, The Opportunity We Deserve, will presentworkplans
designed to ensure equal opportunity in education, criminal justice, jobs and economic
development and civil rights enforcement. In Part IV, The Community We Must
Build I will explore the ways in which groups and communities are connecting people
and toppling racial barriers. And finally, in Part V, The Leadership We Need: The
Road Forward, will issue'a s call for the leaders in every community and every sector
of American life and commerce to develop their own workplans for racial
reconciliation. Throughout this report, I will discuss the nation's special relationship
and obligation to improve the lives of the first Americans -- Native Americans.
*
What will the America we want look like? What vision should guide our work?
To begin with, opportunity will be shared so deeply and broadly that an observer will
see no evidence of a past with slavery or conquest or nativist discrimination. Whatever
forms of misery remain, they will not be the special burden of any racial or ethnic
(Intro)-7
Introduction
March 17, 1999
group. Second, the sense of community must be so powerful a force that our social and
economic lives pull us out of ethnic enclaves. Rather than merely tolerate our
differences, we will celebrate and draw strength from them. Finally, our hearts will be
healed of the crippling influences of prejudice and fear, free to appreciate the common
humanity we share as the gift of our Creator. And we will not backslide into racial
rivalries and distrust, because we will be steeled against them; W will study history and
we will never repeat it.
Each of these elements -- opportunity, community, heart -- is necessary, and
each is possible only in combination with the others. For example, we will never have
a broad consensus on a bold opportunity agenda unless we care about each other as one
community. Moreover, our laws and policies will only take us so far. It is true that,
through law, we have torn down many of the barriers that have for generations kept so
many from getting a fair shot at the American dream solely because of their race or
color. But while more of this work remains, I believe at this juncture our most
fundamental challenge is to make a journey of the heart.
Undergirding all the facts and plans presented here are a set of ethical precepts
that I believe must guide us on this journey. The first is a spiritual law common to
every major world religion. We hear its echo in our call for One America. It is the law
(Intro)-8
Introduction
March 17, 1999
of oneness. E pluribus unum: Out of many, one. We must stop living under the
delusion of separation. We are all born of the same creative source. There is no
"other." In Christianity it is expressed as loving thy neighbor as thyself. In Islam we
are instructed to "Do unto all men as you wish to have done to you and reject for
others what you would reject for yourself." The Talmud teaches us, "Should anyone
turn aside the right of the stranger, it is as though he were to turn aside the right of the
most high God." As a nation that takes pride in both the depth and diversity of
religious expression, we must embrace racial reconciliation as a way to honor our
highest spiritual values.
The second underlying ethical precept is my belief that we should approach this
issue with proper humility. After all, if any one of us had all the answers we would
have settled this problem a long time ago. We must not lock ourselves into old
arguments and rigid beliefs. We must always search for the kernel of truth in what the
other side is saying. With open minds and hearts, we can find common ground.
And third, we must recognize the ways we have allowed our racial differences
to get inside our heads, causing many whites, for instance, to deny the existence of
white privilege and many people of color to see themselves as perpetual victims,
attributing every setback to racism.
(Intro)-9
Introduction
March 17, 1999
*
Of the many things that have changed about race in my lifetime, as a lawyer and
government servant I am particularly struck by the transformation in our legal and
political culture. We cannot afford to be less vigilant in enforcing laws against
discrimination and pressing to root out bias wherever we can find it. Yet, as I look
ahead I am convinced that we must go beyond the agenda defined a generation ago. We
will not achieve our vision unless we recognize that opportunity is not an accident in
America -- it is a right of citizenship, not coded or discounted by color. And to
redeem that right, we must embrace new civil rights for the new century. These must
include:
The right to a world-class education, and an equal opportunity for educational
achievement;
The right to have one's community be part of the nation's economic
mainstream, neither ignored nor left behind; and
The right to community security, with safety for one's family and home.
meaning?
The workplan to secure these rights must combine public investments and personal
inspiration, community engagement and committed leadership. I know we can do it.
The good and hard work that I have seen across our nation while President has
(Intro)-10
Introduction
March 17, 1999
convinced me that America's greatest resource is the idealism of our people.
*
I want to thank The Advisory Board to the President's Initiative on Race for all
they did during 1998 to re-engage the American people in the hard work of improving
race relations. Led by the eminent scholar and historian, John Hope Franklin, the
Advisory Board spent the year criss-crossing America, examining race, racism and the
potential for racial reconciliation using a process of study, constructive dialogue and
action. The other members of the Board were Linda Chavez-Thompson, Reverend Dr.
Suzan D. Johnson Cook, Thomas H. Kean, Angela E. Oh, Bob Thomas and William
Winter. The Board presented its final report to me in September, 1998, and many of
their findings are reflected in this book.
No President or Advisory Board could be expected to resolve America's vexing
racial problems in one year. We believe we have made a good start. Now, we must all
continue to work together to find a way to cherish and celebrate what is unique about
our distinctive racial and cultural identities, while uniting around a common vision of
what it means to be One America.
(Intro)-11
Introduction
March 17, 1999
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom's way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind-
Of such I dream, my world!
Langston Hughes
(Intro)-12
Clinton Presidential Records
Digital Records Marker
This is not a presidential record. This is used as an administrative
marker by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library Staff.
This marker identifies the place of a tabbed divider. Given our
digitization capabilities, we are sometimes unable to adequately
scan such dividers. The title from the original document is
indicated below.
1
Divider Title:
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
PART I: THE AMERICA WE SEE
A. INTRODUCTION
One of the most frustrating aspects of our ongoing national dialogue on race is the
extent to which we find the nation stuck in a wheel-spinning debate about where we are
in our journey to One America. Over and over we ask ourselves, "Is our racial glass half
empty or half full?" Some would say that we have bridged the racial divide, largely
eliminated discrimination and achieved equal opportunity by enacting antidiscrimination
laws. They point to the growth of the minority middle class and exceptional achievers
more deverse
3
list
like Gloria Estefan, James Edward Olmos, Oprah Winfrey and Colin Powell and assert
that any persistent racial problems or disparities are more a failing of personal
responsibility than of society at large.
On the other hand, there are those who, in the face of demonstrable progress over
the past 50 years, insist that minorities in America are no better off today than a
generation ago. They argue that racism is omnipresent, quietly sanctioned and the root of
all evil in their lives and their communities-from perceived inequities in criminal justice
to the fact that they did not get that job or promotion they so desperately wanted. There
is a kernel of truth in each point of view, and in this chapter I hope to bring them to light
while separating fiction from fact.
(I)-1
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
Our journey to One America must be guided by an agreed-upon set of
navigational tools. Can you imagine where a ship at sea would end up if the captain had
one view of north and the crew had another, or if one ship's lookout saw icebergs ahead
while another saw only smooth sailing? We must find enough agreement on the current
conditions of the ocean, the obstacles in our path and the destination we seek in order to
steer a steady course. In short, we must share an understanding of where we are now and
where we need to be. That requires taking an honest look at the facts about our changing
demographics, the continuing reality of race-based disparities, the true extent of current
discrimination, and the status of group relations among races and ethnicities.
In this chapter, I will highlight some of the more salient indicators of where we
are in these four areas. But this is not just a recitation of facts and statistics. I want to
challenge the American people to think about a set of fundamental questions: Will our
growing diversity be a source of strength or weakness in the coming century? Will we
choose to explain away, deny or turn our backs on the truth about discrimination and
disparities in America, or will we enter the 21st century with a renewed commitment to
closing the opportunity gaps? Will we be satisfied that fewer people seem to harbor
overt racial animosities in their hearts, or will we continue to struggle until all prejudice,
both overt and covert, is extinguished from the American psyche?
Before we can answer those questions, we must clear away the myths and
misinformation that have cluttered our path and impeded our progress for too long. And
(I)-2
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
while we may not finally settle the "glass half full or empty" debate, perhaps we will see
the kernel of truth in another point of view, which is always the first step to finding
common ground. If we can agree on the America we see, we will have a better chance of
smooth passage to the America we want.
Santa & cheir
B. DEMOGRAPHICS
Myth: Whites believe they make up 50 percent of the U.S. population. African
Americans believe the country is 45 percent white and 26 percent black.
Fact: Whites currently make up 73 percent of the population; African Americans, 12
percent; Hispanics, 11 percent; and Asian Americans, about four percent. Hispanics will
become the largest minority group in just a few years. Fifty years from now, whites will
no longer be the majority race in America.
Myth: American Indians are a dying race.
Fact: The American Indian population is young. According to the 1990 Census, 39
percent of the American Indian population was under 20 years old, compared with 29
percent of the total U.S. population. The median age of Native Americans was 26 years
old, considerably younger than the U.S. median age of 33 years.
(I)-3
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
How you react to these statistics tells us something about America's ability to
cope with the most dramatic shift in racial composition in our history. Some of you may
look at the statistics and be alarmed. Others may be overjoyed. Still others may not
know what this will mean to them and to their communities. I do not pretend to have all
the answers. But I can say that if we do not embrace this shift by finding ways to
celebrate our diversity while uniting around a common vision of what it means to be an
American, we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past, with far graver
consequences for our future.
[Insert CEA Table, "Racial/Ethnic Composition of the Population," p. 6]
Fifty years ago, whites made
The Changing Face of America
up 90 percent of our population, and
In California in the late 1970s, roughly
three-quarters of the population was Anglo.
the Census Bureau used only three
Today, barely 50 percent of the population is
Anglo. Since 1990, California has seen large
major categories to describe us: white,
population growth, with nearly 90 percent of that
growth from Latinos and Asians. Within a few
years, there will be no majority race in California.
Negro, and "other." Sometimes those
In four or five decades, whites will barely be a
majority of this country's population. In the
distinctions were reduced to just white
schools in California, the number of students
trying to learn English has increased in the last
and non-white. Since then, there has
25 years by 350 percent. Fully a quarter of all
the public school students in California are trying
to learn English.
been a rapid growth in our Asian
American, Hispanic and American Indian populations. Hispanics, for example have
grown from a population of less than 7 million in 1960 to over 25 million today.
(I)-4
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
Another factor complicating the racial identity of America is the growth of
intermarriage involving all races. Before 1960, only two percent of black men married
outside their race. That figure now exceeds 10 percent. In addition, a quarter of all
Latino babies have a non-Latino parent, while a third of Asian children are born to a
mixed race couple. Roughly half of all American Indian children have a non-Indian
parent. Children of this increasing number of mixed marriages will have to decide if they
wish to hold a single racial label or identity or whether some form of mixing or blending
of identities is more suitable.¹
[Insert CEA Table, "Intergroup Married Couples," 1990]
This unprecedented infusion of diversity brings with it a complex and sometimes
controversial set of issues. Who, for example, decides who is white and non-white?
What will the terms "majority" and "minority" mean when there is no majority race in
America? Will more people insist on identifying themselves to reflect every aspect of
their heritage, as Tiger Woods did when he called himself "Cablinasian?" Will the
leadership in our communities and institutions accurately reflect this new diversity? And,
perhaps, most importantly, will the black-white schism that has so defined racial struggle
in America morph into new minority versus minority divisions or can we build new
coalitions for social change and equal justice across all racial lines?
(I)-5
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
C. DISPARITIES
Myth: American Indians are a drain on the economy.
Fact: Off-reservation spending by reservation residents, tribal governments and
reservation-based businesses totals in the billions and has a positive impact on local,
state and national economies by creating jobs and generating income.
Myth: America's record of progress in the past 50 years has benefitted all citizens
equally and closed the gaps between the "haves" and "have-nots" by race.
Fact: Although all racial and ethnic groups have experienced substantial improvements
in well-being over the second half of this century, Blacks, Hispanics and American
Indians continue to suffer disadvantages in opportunity and in material and physical well
being. And some of the disparities are shocking.
The source of the above fact is a report, prepared for my Initiative on Race by the
Council of Economic Advisors. Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic
Well-being by Race and Hispanic Origin documents the fact that while we have reduced
or eliminated some very harmful differences between whites and minorities, serious
disparities remain.
The report reveals persistent, high rates of poverty among American Indians,
African Americans and Hispanics, as well as the big racial differences between whites
(I)-6
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
and most minorities in wages, income and wealth. It provides evidence that minorities
still have fewer options and access to quality housing and quality health care. It confirms
the sad truth that far too many diseases, some of them preventable, like AIDS, are
afflicting people of color at two and three and even five times the rate of whites. And it
shows that for many children of color, poor schools and segregation are a shameful
legacy we have yet to overcome.
[Insert CEA Table, "Poverty Rates for Individuals," p. 36]
While we can and should be proud of the record of civil rights progress over the
last half century, it is untrue and foolish for us to pretend we have beaten the problem of
racial disadvantage. Sometimes raw statistics don't even tell the whole story. Let me
give you just one example. We have heard a lot about the growth of the black middle
class in recent years. But a close look at the data shows that this may have been a time-
limited phenomenon. Research shows that the white middle class expanded considerably
in each decade from 1940 to 1970, while the rise of the black middle class-a sure sign of
reduced inequities and greater opportunity-was significant in the 1960s only.
While some point to such figures as evidence of tremendous black economic
progress from 1940, there was little growth from the early to mid-1970s through the early
1990s. So, while we can be pleased that there has been progress in the expansion of the
black middle class between the 1940s and the early 1970s, this was followed by roughly
(I)-7
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
20 years of stagnation. I am pleased that our economic growth has led to a resumption of
growth in the mid-1990s but it has not been enough for us to be sure there will be no
reversals or stagnation and that we have undone the past's hurtful legacy.
This kind of surface, statistical accounting has led many whites to believe that
they have done enough and that race-linked disadvantages deserve less attention from
governments and other institutions, not more. Too many of us see signs of progress and
believe that progress is either universal or sufficient. Enough blacks, Hispanics, American
Indians, and Asians do, of course, manage a level of success to assuage
our-whites'-guilt and reinforce our belief that our society really is fair and equal. The
successes of the few, however, should only spur us to expect more. The exceptions are
important harbingers of the changes that are needed for every child to compete on the
same, equal playing field, with the very same expectations of success.
Of course, many minorities view their progress differently. Time and again, my
Advisory Board heard from minorities that progress has been too slow, uneven, subject to
reversals, and only skin deep; whites have clutched their racial privileges too closely and
have often surrendered to civil rights reforms only when required.
So where can we find common ground? We can start by looking at the imposing
litany of disparities reported in Changing America. It is clear, from this report, that we
must do more as a nation to reduce these harmful inequities. How many of us would want
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March 17, 1999
our children to look forward to a life where they were virtually assured of earning less
than whites with a comparable education, having a higher and sustained risk of becoming
unemployed, of dying at an earlier age, and of having less income and wealth to provide
for our families during and after our lifetimes? Isn't it obvious that our ugly racial legacy
has continuing force in our lives when the median wealth of black households is only
one-twelfth that of white families? When Hispanics and blacks are on average about six
times more likely than whites to be victims of murder? And when the unemployment rate
in Indian Country is a staggering 49 percent? Regrettably, I am not making any of this
up. These are all real-life examples of disparities and discrimination occurring in 1999.
[Insert CEA Table, "Labor Force Participation Rates of Persons Aged 25 to 54," p. 25]
Understanding these disparities will help us create the agenda for our future. I
start from a belief that many of the disparities that place minorities at a disadvantage
cannot be explained away as the fault of minorities themselves. Just as every American
had a role to play in ending slavery and the egregious mistreatment of many people of
color that followed in its wake, we all share responsibility for improving the lives of
those who have been handicapped by a legacy of oppression. There is no doubt in my
mind that we can close these gaps in education, health, economic well-being, and in so
doing, make America stronger for all Americans.
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D. DISCRIMINATION
Myth: Racial discrimination is no longer a problem in America.
Fact: Despite much progress and the strongest economy in 30 years, sound scientific.
evidence shows that discrimination against minorities continues today, significantly
limiting and reducing opportunities and choices for many of them.
Racial discrimination is still a fact of life for many of our people. While that
statement may seem self-evident to many Americans, according to a 1997 Gallup poll,
three-quarters of white Americans believe that "blacks are treated the same as whites." A
1995 poll by the Washington Post reveals that only 36 percent of whites believe that
"past and present discrimination is a major reason for the economic and social
problems" facing blacks. There are comparable differences for Hispanics. Whites also
believe that blacks and other minorities have made substantial progress over the last
decade or more; indeed, lower-income whites are the most convinced that blacks have
made lots of progress.
Minorities, however, perceive lots of discrimination: While most whites do not
believe there is much current discrimination, virtually all minorities believe and
experience the opposite. Numerous civil rights cases and social science reports carefully
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March 17, 1999
document this stark divergence in viewpoints. Princeton Professor Jennifer Hochschild,
for example, comments after her thorough review of surveys on racial attitudes:
African American (and other minorities) increasingly believe that racial
discrimination is worsening and that it inhibits their race's ability to
participate in the American dream; whites increasingly believe that
discrimination is lessening and that blacks have the same chance to
participate in the dream as whites.
The legal analyst, Richard Delgado, states this dilemma sharply: "white people
rarely see acts of blatant or subtle racism, while minority people experience them all the
time."² There is, in stark terms, a sense that whites and blacks live on different
perceptual planets.³
This "perception gap" fuels debate while preventing action. So, we find ourselves
in a quandary: Americans of good faith look at current conditions in our society and
draw almost diametrically opposed conclusions. One of the problems created by this
divergence is that it tends to paralyze the debate and stall us from taking action against
the problem of discrimination. It contributes to what I call "the empathy gap" --
indifference caused by a failure to understand the obstacles faced by other groups. The
persistence of the empathy gap threatens to constitute a bitter, enduring form of
dissonance and disbelief that will further fracture our belief in the racial perfectibility of
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March 17, 1999
this country.
Let me begin by stating my own uncomplicated conclusion: despite much
progress and the strongest economy in 30 years, I am convinced by sound scientific
evidence that discrimination against minorities continues today.
There is ample evidence of old-fashioned, blatant door-slamming, name-calling,
even violent prejudice. The brutal 1998 truck-dragging murder of a black man, James
Byrd, Jr., is a chilling recent example-and not the only one. But minorities today are
all
often subject to a more subtle, less demonstrative brand of this affliction. Anyone who
has ever experienced discrimination, including poor white southerners, understands the
500
deep hurt and anger that it spawns. But aside from these emotional wounds,
discrimination rips a hole in the social fabric of our nation and is a leading cause of
many of the disparities I spoke about above. In this section, I will present concrete
evidence of the continuing existence of discrimination, and offer a renewed call for the
elimination of this cancer from the soul of our nation.
Hate crimes, ranging from hateful harassment to murder, are perhaps the most
pernicious signs of old-fashioned discrimination, and they are sadly on the rise. In 1995,
there were nearly 5,000 acts of hate crime against racial and ethnic groups, and nearly
3,000 more against other groups. In 1996, the number increased to 6,700 race incidents.
And it is not all black and white. In June 1995, arsonists burned down the home of a
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Latino family in Palmdale, California, spray painting "white power" on their walls.
A
recent report on the subject of hate crimes concludes: "From killings and beatings to acts
of arson and vandalism, these hate crimes injure or even kill thousands of people, terrify
countless others, divide Americans against each other, and distort our entire society."⁴ I
agree and will do everything in my power to punish, as quickly as possible, those who
commit such acts.
Many of the most common overt acts of racism from our past, such as signs in
store windows saying, "Blacks need not apply" are gone, thanks in large part to the
passage of civil rights laws. But many of the most visible signs of discrimination, have
too often been replaced with more subtle, hidden, but no less damaging practices.
Practiced with a smile, this kind of discrimination may not even be grounded in
malicious intent, but the effect is no less harmful. The subtlety, or relative invisibility of
discrimination, makes it harder for both minorities and whites to know that it is
occurring. But those who face it daily know that something is wrong. People are treated
differently, and worse, solely because of their race.
Let me offer a couple illustrations. The Department of Housing and Urban
Development has sent identically matched "testers"-one white and one African
American-to look for apartments in a score of cities throughout the United States over
the last six years. What they found was convincing evidence that discrimination was
occurring. The Justice Department has used testers to investigate housing discrimination
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March 17, 1999
in over three dozen cases and settled these cases with penalties of over $4 million.
Private fair housing groups recently announced that they have successfully concluded
over 900 fair housing cases that brought $95 million dollars in help to those who
complained of discrimination.⁵
In one of these cases, a white tester went to the Boca Real Apartments in Miami
and was told that the rent would be $805 and the unit would be available in two weeks.
The black tester arrived shortly after and was told no units would be available until the
next year, and that the rent would be from $845 to $1,200 a month. In another Florida
case, rental agents testified that their firm told them not to rent to blacks and to code
minority applications so that they could be distinguished from those of whites. The firm
paid a penalty of $1 million for this violation.
The research on employment discrimination reveals some equally sobering
results. For example, research by Dr. Marc Bendick shows that blacks and Latinos are on
average likely to be denied employment at least 20 to 25 percent of the time. The studies
are based on hundreds and hundreds of examples, like these: In a recent test, an Hispanic
tester applied for the job of receptionist for a position in a Washington suburb. She was
told that they were not taking any further applications, but the white tester called shortly
after and was given an appointment for the next day. In still another recent case, a black
tester was offered $6.50 an hour for the position of sale's assistant in a department store
while the white tester was offered $1 dollar more or $7.50.
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And the more traditional civil rights enforcement tools still find plenty of work. In
1994, an Alabama bank paid a fine of $225,000 because they were shown to have
discriminated in hiring employees for entry-level clerical positions. One of the bank's
personnel officers wrote in their files about a black applicant: "very large lips and hips,
overweight, dark skin, black girl, her hair is longer than most, appearance is not good
enough to meet the public." The Department of Labor investigated and concluded that no
employer can use such racial stereotypes and biases to exclude otherwise qualified
applicants. In response, the bank agreed to hire additional minority clerks.
Many Americans will recall the widely reported recent complaints of racial and
gender discrimination that were leveled against and settled by Texaco. This complaint
alleged discrimination in employment, training, promotion, tenure, layoff policies, and in
the work environment. There are a number of other comparable cases and complaints
against major employers in this country, including Shoney's, General Motors, Pitney
Bowes and Avis. Indeed, the dramatic decline in racial discrimination litigation and
complaints around the country that we would have expected to see over the past three
decades has just plain failed to materialize.
The Challenges That Remain: The best social science evidence documents what
many of us know -- discrimination is still a daily fact of life in America and much more
needs to be done to weed it out. I have always said that any discussion of race must be
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March 17, 1999
based on the facts. Myth, speculation and misinformation have led to much of the
division among our people. That is why I am making a strong plea to the research
community to produce more and better data about the extent of discrimination in
America. Not only do we need more information in the areas that are already being
studied, we need to develop new studies to examine sectors of society where no data
currently exists. We need to find out if discrimination is as prevalent in other parts of
society as studies have shown it to be in employment, housing, and public
accommodation. Finally, studies need to be expanded or new studies conducted to gather
data on other racial and ethnic groups. As I said earlier in this section and will discuss
later, in the Workplan chapter, the bulk of the data concerns discrimination faced by
African Americans and Hispanics, since information on other groups is either lacking or
nonexistent.
The more information we gather, the better we can focus our efforts on reducing
and, I hope, ultimately eradicating discrimination.
In closing this discussion, I think it is important to remind ourselves that over the
last half century there has been clear, recognizable progress in the area of race relations
and racial justice in the United States. For those too young to remember what life was
like in the early 1950s, it is useful to recall the conditions blacks lived under in the South
when I was a child:
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March 17. 1999
" [Blacks] could not live where they desired; they could not
work where white people worked except in menial positions
They could not use the same restrooms, drinking fountains, or
telephone booths. They could not eat in the same restaurants,
sleep in the same hotels, be treated in the same hospitals They
could not attend the same public schools. They could not vote" 6
(Jaynes and Williams 1989: 40-42).
Indeed, in 1964, there were only three black members of Congress; today there are
nearly 40. The number of Hispanics in Congress has also grown-from 4 to 20. There
are now 19 members of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus. And let me tell you that
the African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Pacific representatives in the 105th
Congress have not just done an excellent job for their constituents, they have done an
excellent job for America. For the generation of African Americans born in the 1920s and
1930s, only 45 percent graduated high school. Today, that number is 75 percent. 7 In the
1940s, the entire armed services were deliberately segregated; they are now among the
most racially integrated parts of society. Harvard Professor Randall Kennedy comments
about the degree of racial progress in criminal law since that time - changes that appear
analogous to other areas of social life: [T]he administration of criminal law has
changed substantially for the better over the past half century and there is reason to
(I)-17
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March 17, 1999
believe that, properly guided, it can be improved even more." 8
A number of conservative authors and commentators look at this progress,
however, and stop. Racial discrimination and systematic racial disadvantages, they
conclude, are a thing of the past, an obstacle largely overcome. Discrimination might
occur but it is small scale, isolated, and driven by random acts of racial prejudice of the
few. All we need do, they say, is turn to our capabilities and skills to achieve whatever
destiny, and the marketplace, bring to us.⁹ While I respect that view, I do not share it.
The research evidence, my own observations, and conversations with many Americans
have convinced me that discrimination remains real for too many of our citizens. I regret
to say that all too many of us harbor in our hearts some feelings of racial superiority or
inferiority that are part of the acid rain of racism in the United States in 1999. 10 The work
of our civil rights institutions, both public and private, is not yet done. But, more
importantly, all Americans must rededicate themselves to the work of cleansing our
hearts of the hurtful disease of discrimination.
That is the subject I would like to turn to next. Just how do Americans of
different races and ethnicities feel about and behave towards each other today?
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March 17, 1999
E. INTERGROUP RELATIONS
Myth: In 1963, 6 out of 10 whites agreed with the sentiment that they have a right to
where mythe Jacrper domestor> this thelve
keep blacks out of their neighborhoods. The same or a higher number of whites believe
that today.
Fact: By 1996-less than 35 years later-86 percent of whites disagreed with this
opinion.
Myth: Since the passage of civil rights legislation, our neighborhoods and schools have
become steadily more integrated, moving us towards more mutual understanding and
brotherhood.
Fact: Despite modest gains, most neighborhoods remain hypersegregated, while schools
are becoming increasingly separated by race, after progress in the 1960s and 1970s.
We have talked about our progress in breaking down the legal apparatus of social
and economic separation over the past 50 years. Now I want to say a few words about the
changes in personal attitudes and behavior that have accompanied this progress. Again,
the picture is a mixed bag. On the one hand, there is clear, incontrovertible evidence that
Americans have made great strides in interracial relations, but on the other, there is still a
small, but hard-core group of extreme racists sprinkled through our midst. And many of
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March 17, 1999
us still harbor unconscious negative views about people of other races. Again, let me
start with the facts.
For much of this century, social scientists and pollsters have conducted large-scale
surveys of Americans to investigate racial attitudes. While no one would argue that
changes in how people answer surveys are a complete indication of racial attitudes, I
believe we cannot ignore the substantial changes in the public's stated opinions about
race over the past few decades. Considering the fact that for more than three centuries,
generation after generation of white Americans were taught to believe in the superiority
of whites and the inferiority of people of color, the changes that have taken place in the
last two generations are a remarkable testament to our efforts, as a nation, to put aside our
biases and come together as One America.
Exhaustive research by respected scholars shows a substantial narrowing of the
attitude gap separating the races. In 1963, for example, 47 percent of whites said they
would either "strongly" or "mildly" object if a member of their family wanted to bring a
black friend home for dinner. By 1985, the last year in which this question was asked
and only one generation later, 77 percent of whites said they not object at all, with only
12 percent objecting mildly and 11 percent objecting strongly.¹¹ The classic 1967 movie,
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," dealt with both this phenomenon and the just-
weakening taboo of inter-racial marriage (The same year as the movie, the U.S. Supreme
Court stuck down as unconstitutional a Virginia criminal law against such marriages; that
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Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
same case, I might add, also overturned the antimiscegination law in my own state of
Arkansas).
The public's attitudes toward inter-racial marriage have grown substantially more
tolerant since then. In 1963, 62 percent of whites approved of laws outlawing
intermarriage. By 1996, that number had dropped to only 13 percent, and today, fully 67
percent of whites personally approve of intermarriage.¹²
While most of the large-scale research data on this subject focuses on white
attitudes, there has been some data suggesting improvements in attitudes among people of
color. For example, in 1969, about half of the black population (48 percent) thought that
whites in general were interested in keeping blacks down. By 1995, less than 30 years
later, this number declined to 29 percent. 13
Some people skeptical about the racial progress we have made argue that these
changes only reflect that people are better able to conceal their attitudes on surveys. There
is some truth to that, but it is surely good even if the data on attitudes are only proving
that more people can tell right from wrong, even if their hearts and all of their behavior
haven't caught up with society's norms. Moreover, there is no denying the significant
changes in people's behavior, too. America is simply a more tolerant and integrated
nation today than ever before.
Perhaps the most convincing indicator of this fact is that more Americans than
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Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
ever are living and working together. In 1966, only 21 percent of whites said they had at
least some black neighbors. That figure had grown to 63 percent in 1996. In poll after
poll it is clear, whites and people of color are less isolated from each other.
[Insert CEA Table, "Whites' Attitudes towards Integration," p. 68]
But despite these improvements, there is still a hard-core group of about 10-15
percent of Americans who cling to their negative stereotypes about African Americans
and other people of color, and who often favor segregation and other divisive measures to
maintain the subordinate status of minorities. While it would be easy to discount a 10-15
percent segment as statistically irrelevant, I believe we cannot afford to ignore the
disproportionate impact these bigots-many of them operating invisibly in our midst-
have on our racial climate. While almost every white person publicly professes a belief
in racial equality, the fact is that about one in eight believe that certain people of color are
less honest or less intelligent.
This situation is exacerbated for minorities by the fact that these hidden bigots are
distributed throughout society, sometimes in power positions: the teacher in your child's
school, a policeman who might detain you, or your supervisor at work. Given that these
bigots generally do not publicly state their views, it would be difficult not to maintain a
measure of distrust of all whites. This climate of distrust invades us all. We all become
victims of the bigot's racism, and we all bear a responsibility to challenge him or her
(I)-22
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
whenever they show themselves.
Finally, let me say that some of the most interesting research being done on race
today reflects the existence of attitudes we are not even aware we possess. I have seen
the results of experiments showing that juries judge defendants differently based on race;
that whites are less likely to respond to an African American in some emergency
situations; that the terms "black" and "white" are still loaded, with black carrying many
more negative connotations than white. This "unconscious" prejudice exists among
many who authentically believe in racial equality. This make it all the more important
that we create settings where we can honestly explore and discuss our deep-seated views
about race.
F. CONCLUSION
In this chapter, I have challenged us to take an honest and factual look at the
America we see so that we can move together to the America we want. Three critical
themes have emerged from this examination.
First: Despite significant progress in expanding equal opportunity for all
Americans, the considerable confusion about racial facts and trends confounds our sense
of direction. Indeed, the distance between our perceptions of the problems is in part a
(I)-23
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
reflection of the distance between our communities and experiences. Big challenges, from
closing the perceptual gaps that divide us to eliminating the very real inequalities among
races, continue to impede our path to One America.
Second: Because the issue of race underlies and connects so many of the pressing
challenges that we face, racial reconciliation must rise to the top of our agenda in the 21st
century. Healing the wounds of the past and closing the gaps of the present remain the
unfinished business of our democracy.
Finally: Every American shares responsibility for the state of race relations in our
nation. We all must do our part to eliminate harmful disparities in education,
employment and health. If the greatest economic boom in recent history has not cured or
reduced significantly these disparities, we must find a better Workplan for the future.
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Part I: America We See
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Endnotes:
I
"
choosing a single identity may entail certain unacceptable psychological costs
as one surrenders meaningful personal history. Another option is the strategy of
blending one's cultural and racial allegiances to form a truly multiracial identity.
These individuals may select from a host of cultural elements and experiences to create
a kind of tailor-made identity. This kind of identity affirms ethnic traditions and
ancestry, as well as incorporating a variety of alien elements into a single cultural
repertoire and identity." C. Matthew Snipp. 1997. "Some Observations about Racial
Boundaries and the Experiences of American Indians." Ethnic and Racial Studies. 20
(October): 667-689.
2 Jennifer Hochschild. 1995. Facing up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 55; see also Richard Delgado. 1994. "Rodrigo's Eighth Chronicle:
Black Crime, White Fears- On the Social Construction of Threat." Virginia Law Review. (March): 503-548.
3.
The Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality study headed by Dr. Lawrence Bobo has
gathered survey data from nearly 3,200 black, white and Hispanic residents of Los
Angeles, Detroit, Boston, and Atlanta. They report that 62 percent of blacks say that there
is a lot of job discrimination "that hurts the chances of blacks to get good jobs." Another
32 percent said it happens some of the time. When asked whether blacks miss out on good
housing because whites will not sell or rent to them, 32 percent agreed and said it
happened very often and another 45 percent said it happened sometimes. Unpublished
tables provided by Dr. Reynolds Farley, the Russell Sage Foundation, New York,
November 9, 1998.
4
Leadership Conference Education Fund. 1997. "Cause for Concern: Hate Crimes in America."
(January). Washington, DC: Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, p. 1. In 1995, there were 2,988 anti-black
hate crimes, another 1,226 against whites, 500 against Hispanics, and over 350 directed against Asians (op cit.,
p. 7). In 1996, there were 4,469 anti-black crimes, another 1,384 anti-white hate crimes, 710 against Hispanics,
and 527 anti-Asian hate crimes. See "Hate Crimes Statistics: 1996", Uniform Crime Reports, Criminal Justice
Information Services Division. Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation; table 1, 5. The Southern
Poverty Law Center also reports regularly on such hate crimes.
5.
"Fair Housing News" (October 1998) of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan
Detroit, p. 1. Of the 1, ,160 total lawsuits, 611 or 53 percent involved race.
6
Gerald Jaynes and Robin Williams (eds). 1989. A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society.
Washington, DC: National Academy Press, pp. 40-42.
7.
"Racial Issues Thirty Years after the Civil Rights Decade" in Reynolds Farley. The
New American Reality: Who We Are, How We Got There, Where We Are Going. New
York: Russell Sage Foundation Press, p.208.
8 Randall Kennedy. 1997. Race, Crime, and the Law. New York: Pantheon Books, page 388-389; see also
Alfred Blumrosen. "The Law Transmission System at Work: Economic and Political Consequences of EEO
Programs." in his Modern Law: The Law Transmission System and Equal Employment Opportunity. Madison,
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin, 1993; see also Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom. 1997. "Remarkable
Change." Chapter 3 in their America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible. New York: Simon &
(I)-25
Part I: America We See
March 17, 1999
Shuster.
9
Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom argue: "Immense progress was made by black
Americans before the idea of racial preferences was seriously entertained by anyone. By
some measures, in fact, the pace of black progress was more rapid in the 1940s and 1950s
than it has been since." In their America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible. New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1997, p.95. They also minimize evidence of housing
discrimination, see their p. 224-225, but see John Yinger. 1998. "Evidence on
Discrimination in Consumer Markets." Journal of Economic Perspectives. 12 (Spring): 23-
40. See Barry Bearak. "Questions of Race Run Deep for Foe of Preferences." The New
York Times, July 27, 1997: 1.
12
[Get Source]
13
Howard Schuman, Charlotte Steeh, Lawrence Bobo and Maria Krysan. 1997. Racial
Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations. London: Harvard University Press, page 142-
3).
15
Schuman, p. 106-7.
16
id., page 272-3.
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Clinton Presidential Records
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2
Divider Title:
Clinton Presidential Records
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 1, Education
March 17, 1999
PART III: THE OPPORTUNITY WE DESERVE
[Introduction to Part III]
1. A HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL
A. INTRODUCTION
I was eleven years old in September 1957 and living in Hot Springs, Arkansas. I
remember listening to the radio one morning as, fifty miles away in Little Rock, nine
black students tried to walk through the doors of all-white Central High School. I was
riveted as the story unfolded. Those nine boys and girls were not much older than I was,
and I tried to imagine what it would be like to be them, as mobs of white protesters glared,
shouted, and spat at them on their first day of school.¹
It had been three years since the Supreme Court's historic decision in Brown V.
Board of Education declared racial segregation in America's schools to be
1
Of course, the President is going to want to edit this to make sure it is an accurate
recollection.
(III.1)-1
Part III, Opportunity: Section 1, Education
March 17, 1999
unconstitutional, and the conflict at Central High would become the nation's first major
confrontation over court-ordered school desegregation. The courageous efforts of the
Little Rock Nine served as a catalyst for the integration of thousands of segregated schools
around the nation and, over a period of years, produced great strides in opportunity and
understanding.
On November 6, 1998, some forty years after the Little Rock Nine had first set foot
in Central High, they came to the White House to receive the Congressional Gold Medal
for their courage and their contributions to our nation. As President, I had the privilege of
hosting them. At the ceremony, my friend Ernest Green, one of the original nine, spoke
on behalf of the honorees. He said something of great significance. Yes, the Little Rock
Nine understood in 1957 the importance of their effort to end racial segregation in their
schools. But more than anything else, the Little Rock Nine were simply seeking the
highest quality education they could find. "We simply thought we were doing the right
thing," Ernie said, "and that it was our duty as students in Little Rock to try to advance
and receive the best education available."2
Today, we have learned many lessons from our years of struggle. One of the most
2 Ernest Green, White House signing ceremony designating Little Rock Central High
School a National Historic Site (November 6, 1998).
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 1, Education
March 17, 1999
important, for me, is the idea that our schools and our nation are stronger when persons of
all races learn together. I believe this in my own heart. I have seen it with own my eyes.
If America is the land of opportunity, then, for generations, education has been the
cornerstone of that ideal. During the great era of immigration, between the mid-19th and
early 20th centuries, American reformers like the pioneering John Dewey recognized the
economic and political importance of building a public school system that would serve all
of the nation's children.³ The foundation of our modern democracy and free enterprise
economy has been our belief in the great capacity of all citizens to lift up America while
lifting up themselves. Education, as John Dewey said, can be America's "great
equalizer."
Challenges Ahead
Of course, we have not always lived up to that egalitarian ideal. We have
sometimes denied full and fair educational opportunity, at times through malice, and other
times through indifference or inadvertence. Today, we continue to deny opportunity in a
way that hurts disproportionately children of color. Racial disparities in both student
3 Fn. David Tyack, The One Best System?
4 Fn. See Dewey, Education and Democracy.
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 1, Education
March 17, 1999
achievement and educational resources mean that our children are not getting the
excellent education that they deserve. Eliminating these disparities is among this nation's
greatest challenges.
Tackling these problems is of vital importance for several reasons. First, education
has always been important to our economic growth. It will become even more important
in the knowledge economy of the 21st century. America's growth and prosperity will
increasingly depend on the ability of institutions and people to innovate and continuously
learn. And as our nation grows more diverse, our strength will depend more and more on
whether we provide high-quality educational opportunities to those children of color who
today receive the least.
Second, education is also a powerful arena for strengthening our American
community. When young people learn together and serve together across racial and ethnic
lines they begin to break down stereotypes and the walls that have kept us apart. I have
seen this work across our nation. Our diversity is a great asset in education, but one that
we exploit too little. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who led the fight for
school integration a generation ago, put it best when he said, "Unless our children begin to
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learn together, there is little hope our people will ever learn to live together."
Finally, providing sound educational opportunities to our nation's youth is a moral
imperative. Remember, if we fail our children, we fail ourselves. The decisions we make
today could open the doors of unlimited possibilities for our children, or could shut them
out of the promise of the 21st century. If we make sound choices today, not only will we
make our nation stronger and our communities more dynamic -- we will also honor our
obligations to future generations. Many urban parents, understandably tired of waiting for
their local public schools to improve, have begun to entertain the idea of private school
vouchers as a solution. And many parents, both urban and suburban, remind educational
reform advocates that "local control" of schools is a long-standing and important
American tradition. I understand the impetus behind these concerns. But I want to point
out their liabilities.
I am for choice, but not through the use of vouchers, which could damage, perhaps
irreparably, the public school system that has been one of the cornerstones of this society.
And I am for local control. But not when it re-enforces race and class segregation.
It is clear that the American people agree with me. 90% of all children in this
5 Fn.
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country attend public schools, and the vast majority of Americans believe in the value of
public schooling.6 And, data also shows that the vast majority of all adults and students,
no matter what race or socioeconomic status, believe that children of different races should
attend school together.⁷
It is important that we honor all these bedrock American principles: high-quality
public schools, local authority, and racial integration. The workplan I have crafted shows
how this can be done. This is a national, not just a federal, plan. It will require a working
partnership involving every American - parents and young people, teachers and
administrators, business and community leaders. But before I turn to the workplan, let me
first outline the educational opportunities and challenges that are an outgrowth of the
increasing diversity in our society.
Diversity: Opportunities and Challenges
America, and America's schools, are becoming more racially and culturally diverse
than ever in our history. Consider the fact that since 1976, the percentage of minority
6 Phi Delta Kappan? Or ED/Kent McGuire?
7 Kinder and Sanders, Divided by Color, polling data
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students in public schools has increased from 24 percent to 35 percent. 8 The number of
Hispanic students has more than doubled and the number of Asian Pacific American
students has tripled.⁹ Some schools are becoming diverse in ways we never before
dreamed of. The schools of Fairfax County, Virginia, for example, have students from
more than 180 countries who speak more than 100 different languages. 10 By 2035, there
will likely be no majority race in our public school population.¹¹
The growing diversity of our school population is an enormous national asset.
Imagine what our country would be like if we were able to fully harness the gifts and
talents of all of our young people. And imagine what our children can achieve in
classrooms where students of different backgrounds, cultures, and faiths come together to
forge friendships, learn lessons, and serve their communities. Academic studies have
shown that when students of different races work together toward common goals, they can
break down racial stereotypes, improve race relations, and improve student achievement. 12
8 US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics(hereafter,
NCES) Condition of Education 1998 269, Table 43-1.
9 Id. and Digest of Education Statistics 1997 edition, Indicator 43, Table 3.
10 President's speech. Scott Palmer?
11 This was added (Roderick Harrison)
12 Robert E. Slavin, Cooperative Learning 44, 45, 68, 73, 75 Longman Publisher, New
York & London (1983). These stats on achievement do not specify minority achievement.
Waiting for more articles.
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These findings confirm what we already know, in our hearts, to be true about the kinds of
educational experiences we want to provide all our children. Imagine what we could learn
from them if they learned in truly diverse classrooms.
But currently we are not making the most of our growing student diversity. One
grave challenge we face is the achievement gap between white, black, and Hispanic
children. It is true that over the last few decades, we have made important progress in
educating students of all races. Though improvement has often been slow and uneven, test
scores, high school graduation rates, and college participation rates have increased for all
racial and ethnic groups. In some cases, these improvements have been greater for
students of color than for whites, thus narrowing achievement gaps. 13
Nonetheless, as the wide disparities in SAT and other measures illustrate,
substantial challenges in educational achievement remain. [Insert graphs with SAT and
NAEP trends by race.] Racial gaps in achievement persist throughout the "pipeline" --
from preschool through higher education. Consider these stark examples:
13
For example, since 1976, even as the pool of students taking college entrance exams
has grown dramatically, average SAT scores for students of color have increased 21 points for
Mexican Americans (from 781 to 802 out of 1600), 24 points for Asian Pacific Americans (from
932 to 956), 42 points for American Indians (from 808 to 850), and 58 points for blacks (from
686 to 744), while average scores for whites have increased only 2 points (from 944 to 946).
See Digest of Education Statistics 1997 132, Table 128.
"as
they Merica. Avv
S,
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According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),
average reading proficiency scores for 17-year-old Hispanic students are
lower than, and average scores for black 17-year-olds are not significantly
different from, the average score for 13-year-old white students. 14
Although 93 percent of whites and 87 percent of blacks ages 25 to 29 have
a high school degree, only 62 percent of Hispanics and approximately 66
percent of Native Americans are high school graduates. 15
While the importance of a college degree is growing, so is the gap between
whites and persons of color who have a degree: 33 percent of whites ages
25-29 have a four-year college degree or higher, compared with just 14
percent of blacks and 11 percent of Hispanics. 16
Clearly, it is in the national interest to have more of our students performing at the highest
levels.
14 See Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and
Hispanic Origin, Council of Economic Advisers, 18 (September 1998).
15 Id. at 21.
16 Id. at 22.
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I believe these disparities stem in large part from continuing gaps in educational
opportunity. Minority children are still less likely than white children to have access to
vital educational resources, including high-quality teachers, modern school buildings,
current technology, challenging coursework, and more. Minority children are also more
likely than white children to attend schools in high-poverty areas, and to face threats of
violence during the course of their school day. Many minority students confront not just
one, but all of these deficiencies in their schools.
These gaps in educational achievement and opportunity also afflict higher
education. Over the last three decades, the importance of a college degree to economic
advancement has grown dramatically. Today, a man with a college degree earns 54
percent more than a man with only a high school diploma, compared to a 19 percent
advantage in earnings twenty years ago. 17 Yet the proportion of blacks, Hispanics, and
Native Americans receiving college degrees remains less than half that of whites. 18 This
must change. Improving K-12 achievement is the most important step, but we can't stop
there. We can and must make it possible for more students of color to go on and succeed
in college.
17 Condition of Education 1998, NCES, Indicator 32. This is the data for men. Women
with a college degree earns 88% more than a woman with only a high school diploma, compared
to a 58% advantage in earnings twenty years ago.
18 See Changing America, Council of Economic Advisors, supra note 14, at 22, Table 8.
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These disparities mark the distance from the America we see to the America we
deserve. In the America we deserve, every child will enjoy a high-quality education from
preschool on. This education will be bolstered by high standards and will allow every
student full and fair access to the best our schools can offer.
A second major challenge we face is the problem of resegregation. After a burst of
progress in the late 1960s and early 1970s, segregation in our elementary and secondary
schools, particularly in urban districts, is worsening. Students need the opportunity to
learn together in ways that enrich the learning environment, improve race relations, and
prepare them to thrive in the diverse world that awaits them. Therefore, integration should
be properly understood as one important element of quality in our educational system. As
the Advisory Board stated in its final report, "Simply put, high-quality, integrated schools
provide a more complete educational experience for all students than high-quality,
segregated schools."
But too many of our students today do not attend integrated schools. Today, 8 of
the 10 largest districts in America have greater than 75% minority enrollment.¹ 19
Moreover, minority students within large districts are likely to be assigned to racially
isolated schools, in which the student population is primarily black and Hispanic. Today,
19 Common Core of Data Public Education Agency Universe, 1996-1997, National
Center for Educational Statistics (unpublished).
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more than one-third of all black and Hispanic students attend schools with greater than 90
percent minority enrollment. Rates of segregation are worse for blacks than they were 15
years ago and, for Hispanics, 25 years ago. 20
Nearly 90 percent of these racially isolated schools also have a majority of children
in poverty, and therefore face the extra burdens typical of deeply poor communities.²¹ A
minority student is 16 times more likely than a white student to be in a high-poverty
school. 22 In many metropolitan areas, poor, majority-black or Hispanic schools are located
very close -- sometimes minutes away by highway -- to wealthier, mostly white
institutions. And so, in the midst of burgeoning diversity, we have increasing racial
isolation.
Think about what the combination of these factors - gaps in educational
achievement and opportunity, and increasing racial isolation - mean for children of color.
20 Gary Orfield, Mark Bachmeier, David R. James, Tamela Eitle, Deepening Segregation
in American Public Schools 11, Table 4 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Project on School
Desegregation) (April 1997).
21 Id. At 19, Table 7.
22 Is this accurate? The original sentence said: Or, to put it another way, if you compare
students in schools that are overwhelmingly minority (90 percent or more) with those that are
overwhelmingly white, a minority student is 16 times more likely than a white student to be in a
high-poverty school.
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Students attending predominantly minority secondary schools, for example, have only a
60 percent chance of getting a math teacher with a math degree and as little as a 50 percent
chance of getting a science teacher with a degree in the subject being taught. 23 Seventy
percent of predominantly minority schools have at least one serious building deficiency,
such as poor heating, lighting, or ventilation. 24 Although gap between the number of black
and Hispanic children using computers in school has recently narrowed, the difference in
home computer usage is very large. In 1997, black and Hispanic children were almost
40% less likely to use computers at home than were white children. 25 In addition, recent
studies indicate that computers are used less effectively in predominantly minority
schools 26 Furthermore, children for whom English is a second language often do not have
enough resources to learn English and to participate fully in other subjects. In California,
19 percent of all students are Limited English Proficient (LEP)²⁷, yet for every bilingual
23 Condition of Education 1998 supra note 8 at 301, Table 58-2.
24 School Facilities: America's Schools Report Differing Conditions, U.S. General
Accounting Office, 50, Table II.12 (June 14, 1996).
25 The statistics for home computer usage are, for grades 1 - 8: 54% of white students,
21% of black students, and 19% of Hispanic students; and for grades 9 - 12: 61% of white
students, 21% of black students, and 22% of Hispanic students. The statistics for computer use
at school are, from grades 1 - 8: 84% of white students, 72% of black students, and 68% of
Hispanic students; and for grades 9 - 12: 72% of white students, 73% of black students, and 63%
of Hispanic students. From Digest of Education Statistics 1998, NCES, forthcoming.
26 Harold Wenglinsky, Does It Compute?, Educational Testing Service: Policy
Information Center, 23 -24 (September 1998).
27 The number was 19% in 1993 - 1994. From Schools and Staffing in the United States,
A Statistical Profile 1993 - 1994, at 154, National Center for Education Statistics, (July 1996).
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teacher who speaks Spanish or an Asian language, there are 81 LEP Hispanic students and
561 LEP Asian Pacific American students. 28
It is clear that we have not yet met our aspiration -- I consider it an obligation -- to
provide all children with what Ernest Green and the Little Rock Nine bravely sought forty
years ago: a high-quality education for all students of all races, and the chance for all
students to learn together. To the parents of children who attend our best schools I pose
this simple question: How would you feel if you had to send your child to a school with a
leaky roof, outdated textbooks, no computers, and teachers teaching subjects in which they
lack basic competence? Too many of our children face this reality every day. And more
often than not, they are children of color.
There are many reasons for the persistence of these problems. Most Americans
continue to live in residential neighborhoods separated by class and race. Just a few
decades ago, laws in many U.S. states mandated that white, black and Hispanic students
Felicia's note: I'm sure the number is now up to 25%. The National Performance Review
reported that figure 3/5/99, according to ED reports released this week, but neither Tom Snyder
@ NCES nor the ED website yet have the data available.
28 Laurie Olsen et al; An Invisible Crisis: The Educational Needs of Asian Pacific
American Youth, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, 21 (1997).
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attend separate schools, with black and Hispanic children relegated to inferior schools.²⁹
Those laws are gone. But residential segregation remains, especially in urban centers, and
it has been exacerbated by "white flight" as more and more middle class whites and others
have moved to the suburbs or sent their kids to private schools.
In addition, we continue to fund schools based largely on local property taxes.
This has left many poor, minority communities struggling to fund their schools from a
limited and often shrinking tax base. These same schools have trouble attracting and
keeping the best teachers, and they must cope with all of the challenges of life in high
poverty communities. The result of both poverty-concentration and racial isolation is that,
?
nearly a half-century after Brown V. Board of Education, many/black and Hispanic
children still attend inferior schools. 30
These conditions are socially and economically destructive. They are also morally
unacceptable. While we point fingers in every direction, individual opportunity and our
national strength suffer. How much genius and creativity are we failing to harness
because of continuing racial disparities in educational opportunity? What would our lives
29 Question: True of Hispanic kids, too? Where? Chris?
30 See, e.g., Linda Darling Hammond, "Inequality and Access to Knowledge," in Access
to Knowledge: An Agenda for Our Nation's Schools, ed. J. Goodland and P. Keating, New York:
College Entrance Examination Board (1990).
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be like today if we had provided every American regardless of race or class with the
educational opportunity to succeed to his or her full potential? Would we have a cure for
cancer? Or AIDS? Would we have more efficient energy sources and technologies that
greatly reduced pollution? Would we have a new global movement for world peace and
human rights? How far would we have progressed in weaving our diversity into one great
fabric of community, and in purging our hearts of stereotypes and fears?
Each of us has both a reason and a responsibility to help overcome present
disparities. We must build the highest quality educational system that will provide
Americans of all backgrounds the opportunity to continuously learn.
*
Throughout my presidency, education has been among my highest priorities, and
we have made important progress. [See text box on Administration proposals and
accomplishments (forthcoming).] We have embraced the idea of high standards for all
students, and we have taken some steps to close the opportunity gap in education. Our
effort, for example, to help local schools hire 100,000 new teachers and reduce class size
in early grades will help eliminate racial disparities in class size and have positive effects
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on student achievement.³¹ But, much work remains to be done. Let me discuss three
primary goals for the years ahead -- not just for federal action, but for all of us. These are
the philosophical underpinnings of our workplan.
First, as we raise the bar for everyone, we must eliminate racial disparities in
primary and secondary educational achievement.
Second, we must close racial disparities in college participation and graduation.
Third, we must promote integration in education.
In the balance of this chapter, I offer a workplan based on these three goals that
will help guide us all in the struggle for educational equity and excellence over the coming
decade. Let me first highlight the centerpiece for renewed federal leadership, which
focuses on the problem of disparities in primary and secondary educational opportunity
and achievement.
31 See e.g. Elizabeth Word, John Johnston, Helen Pate Bain, DeWayne Fulton, Jane Boyd
Zaharias, Charles M. Achilles, Martha Nannette Lintz, John Folger, Carolyn Breda, The State of
Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project: Technical Report, 1985-1990
166-169 (1990).
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*
B. CENTERPIECE OF THE FEDERAL WORKPLAN:
THE COMPACT FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION
For more than three decades, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
[ESEA] has been the foundation of our nation's support for millions of poor students and
their schools. In my January, 1999 State of the Union address, I proposed that we
fundamentally redirect that effort to put far greater emphasis on spurring concrete
improvement in results while creating far stronger systems of accountability--not just to
federal taxpayers, but to communities and families. I also proposed targeting federal
resources to help turn around failing schools, to reward progress in raising achievement
levels, to put high-quality teachers in high-poverty schools, to end so-called "social
promotion," and to expand after-school and other academic support programs. I proposed
building in accountability at all levels to focus not only on improving education for every
child in America, but also, especially, on narrowing the gaps between poor and rich, rural
and urban.
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The changes I have suggested for ESEA are built on a number of principles that are
fundamental to reforming education for our most underprivileged children, without regard
to race. But making these kinds of changes is also critical for racial justice. The racial gap
in achievement is the area in which the shortfall between our national ideas and stark
realities is most dismaying. Therefore, closing the gap should be our nation's number one
education goal. In this workplan, I describe a way in which we can achieve that goal. The
major elements of the worklplan include accountability for real education results --
students learning more -- rather than for more plans and promises; flexibility and some
and
added federal funding, both of which will be awarded competitively, and will continue
only if schools improve; and high standards for all students.
For the broad Federal programs in ESEA, I have proposed specific attention to
ideas that we know can make a difference, such as quality teachers, and combined that
with an emphasis on accountability for results. The Compact will take this emphasis on
results a step farther, with a single minded focus on the particularly egregious problem of
racial disparities. How individual states, districts or schools make progress is far less
important than gaining their commitment -- backed by accountability -- for doing what is
needed. I know this will not occur overnight or without debate, but I believe that in the end
there will be a consensus: our nation's ideals and our national prosperity require a new
determination to make quality education for all a reality. On this issue, people of good
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March 17, 1999
faith and good will -- across party lines as well as lines of color and class -- agree: every
American child must learn well.
To that end, we must make targeted efforts in those communities where racial
disparities in achievement and resources present an especially tragic and worrisome
picture. This simply is not the America we want. Federal leadership can be a catalyst, but
our efforts will fizzle without broad-based community involvement.
W
hat I propose is a new kind of partnership for education, building on ESEA.
Quite simply, we need a new covenant to benefit America's children, with the
goal of eliminating racial disparities in K-12 achievement. We need to enlist the
participation of local jurisdictions as well as private sector allies in a Compact for Equal
Opportunity in Education. The Compact will remind us that on education, in particular,
all Americans are on the same side. It will be a coalition to which we bring our collective
determination, creativity, and resources, helping to secure the opportunity all our children
deserve.
Let me give you an idea of how this new partnership might work:
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School systems would commit to measure and close the racial disparities in
achievement. They would adopt measurable goals and a strategy for meeting them.
The strategy would be developed with participation from a wide range of
stakeholders--from corporations to parents--and would identify roles for everyone.
The proposed strategy would have a timetable, and a report-card style system of
public accountability so that everyone could see whether the schools are getting the
results they are supposed to. The school system should identify the carrots and
sticks that will be used so that everyone involved, from students to school boards,
has all the right incentives to succeed.
The federal government should support the Compact in two ways. First, it should
use a competition to award some new funding to help districts implement their
plans. Second, it should offer Compact districts and schools the broadest possible
flexibility in federal grant programs, tied to accountability. Both of these forms of
help should be based upon a judgment, perhaps by panels of national experts and
leading school innovators, that the proposed strategies are likely to succeed. For
example, any expert panel is likely to expect schools to emphasize quality
teaching, high expectations, and quick-response takeovers of failing schools.
Schools that do not reduce racial disparities in achievement will feel the
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consequences of failure. First, they would lose at least some of their grant
flexibility from the federal government, and some of their Compact funding.
Second, they would work with experts to reform their strategies, perhaps by getting
different kinds of academic support, or perhaps through shock therapy and swift
managerial change.
Simply put, this is a results-based approach to education. It focuses not on
program administration and management, but on what students actually learn. We have
seen states and school districts use this method to help all of their students achieve more.
Let me give you an example. Dade County, Florida, which includes the city of Miami and
is one of the most racially diverse school districts in America, had 45 low-performing
schools on the "critical" list. But in two years, they raised their math and reading scores so
much that all 45 were off the list. And they did this by focusing on results. Dade County
officials and teachers refused to accept the proposition that because these students were
poor or lived in tough neighborhoods, they could not learn.³²
32 From President's remarks to the Students, Teachers, Parents and the Community of Jackson Mann Elementary
School, Brighton Massachusetts, February 2, 1999.
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The evidence is now coming in:
As part of the Compact for Equal Educational
Opportunity, the federal government would
education reform that is based on high
provide schools and districts new, greater
flexibility to schools that are able to achieve real
standards and on holding schools
results in closing racial disparities in learning.
Given an equal chance, all our children can
accountable for outcomes works.
succeed. I hope that the flexibility built into this
proposal will spur innovation, tailoring of
approaches to fit local needs, and emulation
Consider the recent Rand Corporation
across the country. How would local Compacts
work?
study of education reform in North
All of them would require several baseline goals,
like a) strategies focused on putting high-quality
Carolina and Texas, the two states with
teachers in high-need schools; b) plans to
reduce disparities in other resources; and c)
the best track record of improving
results-based plans for accountability at all
levels, so that performance is measured fairly,
and that both failure and success in meeting
achievement generally and closing the
performance standards have consequences--
and not just for the students.
racial achievement gap. The study
Other parts of the Compact will be tailored to fit
shows that in both states, a sustained,
local needs. For example, schools might, but
would not be required to: d) find ways to engage
families, businesses, and other local institutions;
statewide approach, based on holding
e) develop strategies for building partnerships
across jurisdictional lines of school districts and
schools accountable for outcomes,
local government agencies; f) find creative
responses to the needs of immigrant children
with limited English skills; g) establish other
raising academic standards, providing
educational programs, scheduled during out-of-
school-time, that would contribute to reducing
schools with the flexibility and other
the racial achievement gap. But ultimately, the
test will not be these particular "inputs", but the
tools they need, and targeting resources
results.
for extra help to low-performing
students and schools, produced results.
We should all follow this results-oriented approach. I propose it in response to a
tragic irony that is at work in American education: too often, the children who need the
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most are least likely to get it. And too often, those are children of color. Because our
neighborhoods are separated by race and class, and because the vast majority of our
schools still rely on local property taxes for funding, a shocking number of our school
districts serve mostly students of color and are desperately poor. Schools in a sea of
poverty are too often overwhelmed, or nearly so, by the extraordinary challenges they
face. Students who live in low-income neighborhoods often bring the many burdens of
their lives and their communities to school with them. Think about teaching in, or
attending, a school in which the majority of students are coping with hunger,
homelessness, or family crises; crime in their hallways, their streets, and their homes; or
cramped living spaces where there is no quiet space to read or do homework.
These are simple, grinding pressures of poverty. They make family support and
academic concentration very difficult to come by. Add to those problems aging inner-city
school buildings or ramshackle rural schools, disparities in teacher training, high
proportions of students with special language needs -- and you have a recipe for disaster.
To address it, we must build on our record of improvement with the broad elementary and
secondary education proposals I have offered. But the special challenge of racial
disparities requires special measures, and hence the idea of a Compact.
Much of what we have already done to institute these kinds of reforms has brought
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important and significant change. Early in my Administration, we worked with Congress
to enact Goals 2000 and a major reform of the bedrock Federal grant program intended to
help states and districts educate poor children, the so-called Title I program. Now funded
at almost $8 billion per year, the program is distributed by a formula related to the number
of poor children. The law now tells participating states that they must raise standards, and
that they must tests or some other assessment measures to hold themselves accountable for
making progress in improving education outcomes for poor children. These reforms are
moving us in the right direction. In schools and states across the country, there are
important signs of promise and progress. But the pace is too slow, and our ambitions must
be still higher.
Now, we must take on the additional challenge of closing the racial achievement
gap, and do so directly. We should use the same methods -- accountability, flexibility,
standards, and targeted resources -- that have begun to show promise for improving
student achievement generally.
W
e have tolerated racial disparities in opportunity as well as in achievement for
far too long. I share the burning impatience felt by many parents, civic
leaders, and educators who are demanding more for all our children. Let us, together,
channel that impatience, forging a new federal-state-local-community partnership to break
the cycle of disadvantage and eliminate gaps in student achievement.
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In forging this partnership, we must be sure to carefully coordinate education
programs across all government agencies. The Vice President and I have led an effort to
"reinvent" the federal government so that we all focus on the services we provide children,
families, and communities, and on the real effects those services have on people's lives.
We must do the same as we form our Compacts for Equal Educational Opportunity. As
we work together to close disparities in schools, let us break down our own bureaucratic
walls. We need to reduce the administrative burden on schools and teachers. We need to
make sure that we focus not on the government agency granting money but rather on
making sure that teachers have the resources they need to teach all children well. And we
need to look beyond current solutions, which are so often limited by metropolitan
boundaries. In many regions, we might find economies of scale as well as more diverse
school populations. Such regional solutions might help us serve all children better, in
more racially integrated schools, with the same allocation of resources.
Let me be clear: this is not Washington encroaching on local authority. In my
years as a governor, working both within my state and on national policy, I came to
appreciate fully that education is primarily a state and local responsibility. But I have also
seen that sometimes a child's opportunity can be limited by the resources a local
community can raise with a property tax, or the accident of a state's wealth or poverty,
generous or stingy in aid to local schools. Some education programs are confining, with
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March 17, 1999
red tape and narrow categorical purposes that are not well-coordinated with other
education efforts. Thus these programs become, unintentionally, less effective. And
across the board, I have seen education treated as an island, cut off from the mainland of
challenges in the surrounding community. We have worked hard in the last several years
to tackle these problems. I am proud of our accomplishments, and determined to build on
them. This is an issue too important to become ensnared in jurisdictional, administrative,
or partisan bickering. When it comes to the education of our children, politics must stop at
the schoolhouse door.
As my Advisory Board on Race said in its final report to me, "To a great extent,
we know what to do to promote educational equity and excellence; we just have to have
the courage as a nation to do it. If we are successful here, fundamental change will
follow." In the long-term, if we eliminate gaps in student achievement by race, we will
ensure minority access to college and to a better future, and we will promote integration
by making all public schools, and therefore the communities they serve, attractive to all
Americans.
***
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C. A WORKPLAN FOR THE NATION
The three goals I outlined above-closing racial gaps; increasing college
participation and graduation; and
promoting integration-are, of
A WORKPLAN FOR THE NATION
course, not only federal priorities.
(1) Close Racial Gaps from Pre-School through
High School
Federal leadership on these issues is
Support Families and Promote Early
Learning Opportunities
Provide Educational Resources and
important. But just as important are
Opportunities Equitably
- Teaching
the contributions that all Americans
- Curriculum
- Buildings
can make to our progress, as parents
- Technology
- English Acquisition
High Expectations and Accountability
and students, teachers and
- Students
- School Systems and Social Promotion
businesspeople, community
-Charter Schools, Public School Choice
members and civic leaders. We can
(2)
Increase College Participation and
Graduation
Expand College Enrollment and Financial
build the educational system we
Aid
Close Racial Disparities in Graduation
deserve if we work in partnership,
Rates and Increase Minority Participation
in Graduate and Professional Schools
Support Minority-Serving Institutions and
each taking tangible steps, prepared
Build College Partnerships
to reexamine our old assumptions
(3)
Promote Integration to Enrich the Learning
Experience for All Students
and arrangements in order to prepare
Reduce Racial Segregation Among and
Within K-12 Schools
Promote the Benefits of Diversity in Higher
all of our people for new challenges
Education
and opportunities. We have often
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March 17, 1999
given lip service to the ideals of education that is both egalitarian and excellent, and then
been too willing to accept compromises in those ideals because
*
(1)
Closing Racial Gaps from Preschool Through High School
The Compact for Equal Opportunity in Education, together with other efforts such
as Head Start and Title I, represent an important Federal contribution to our national
effort. But there are several important steps that require engaged attention and action from
us all. We all have roles and responsibilities. Here are some key things we can do
together that I believe will help close racial gaps in educational achievement.
Support families and promote early learning opportunities
A child's development in the earliest years is crucial to the rest of his or her life.
Research shows that children who do not enter school ready to learn will spend a
significant amount of time catching up to their peers and may never fully overcome initial
learning gaps. 33 Families are the key here. Parents and caregivers must be every child's
33 Best source we could come up with so far: Nicole Rabner suggested recent NAS report
on school readiness which we don't have
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first teachers.
The most important thing parents can do in the early years is read to their children.
We have set a national goal of having all our children read independently and well by the
end of third grade. To help achieve that goal, researchers tell us that parents should read
to their children at least 30 minutes per day.34 In just the last few years, the percentage of
parents who are reading to their children on a regular basis has increased dramatically, and
that increase has been greatest among parents of color.³⁵ This is important progress. But
we can do better.
Today, parents of white children are still more likely to read to their children. 36
One reason for this difference is the racial gap in literacy among adults. Approximately 40
million American adults cannot read English or read only at the lowest level, and persons
of color are overrepresented in this group.³ Adults who cannot read cannot teach their
children to read, and may not put as much emphasis on their children's schoolwork. For
this and other important reasons, we must take action to increase adult literacy.
34 Again, the NAS report?
35
See Changing America, supra note 14 at 15, Table 1.
36 Id.
37 Adult Literacy in America: A Look at the Results of the National Adult Literacy Survey,
National Center for Educational Statistics, 16 (1993).
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Beyond parents' roles, we must mobilize other aspects of the caring "village" my
wife Hillary has spoken about so often. Children of all races must, but too often do not,
have access to high-quality pre-school. Quality preschool boosts child development,
which leads to higher achievement in school, better social adjustment, and even decreased
involvement in crime.³⁸ Head Start plays an important role here by providing quality pre-
school to nearly one million children of low-income families. But we are currently
serving fewer than half of all eligible students, and only 32 percent of eligible Hispanic
students. 39 There is more to do.
Finally, families must remain involved in their children's education throughout
school. A child's chances of success, regardless of race or class, are immeasurably
increased when his or her family participates in the child's education. The more directly
involved parents are in each child's school, the greater the return. 40 All schools should
have parent compacts that clearly define parents' role in the school. As a national goal, I
38 See Steve Barnett, "Long Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on Cognitive and
School Outcomes," Hirokazu Yoshikawa, "Long Term Effects of Early Childhood Programs on
Social Outcomes and Delinquency," and Ellen C. Frede, "The Role of Program Quality in
Producing Early Childhood Program Benefits," all in The Future of Our Children, Vol 5. No. 3,
(Winter 1995).
39 [According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau
(based on U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty Status of People in 1997).]
40 See, e.g., The Family is Critical to Student Achievement, Center for Law and
Education, Anne T. Henderson and Nancy Berla, eds. (1997).
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believe that every parent should do some form of volunteer work in their child's school
every month, and that employers should provide the flexibility to help parents do so.
Provide Educational Resources and Opportunities Equitably
Over the last several years, we have embraced the idea of high academic standards
for all students, including the use of tests to ensure that those standards are met. Half our
states now have or will soon introduce high school tests that students must pass to
graduate. These standards and tests can play a crucial role in ensuring the quality of
teaching and learning in our schools, but only if we give all students a full and fair
opportunity to meet the standards and pass the tests. If all our children are going to be
held to the same high standards, and they should be, then all students must have an equal
opportunity to meet those standards and succeed to their full potential. I'll be blunt: it's
easy to talk tough about standards, duck the politically difficult task of investing the
needed resources, and then blame powerless poor kids when they can't make the grade.
And it is easy to turn the standards-based reform movement into a testing movement. It's
not. It must be about excellence and equity, and that must include fair investments.
The unequal distribution of educational resources is dramatic, especially in our
poorest, most racially isolated communities where large numbers of minority children are
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struggling to learn in our lowest quality schools. It's a tangled knot of problems: we have
a tradition of local control; we then leave most local school districts heavily dependent on
property taxes; and school district boundaries separate the poor from the affluent -- and
states may or may not choose to redistribute the resources to give every child a fair shot.
In recent years, there have been over a dozen law suits brought under state constitutional
provisions, challenging the school finance systems established by state laws. These have
met with some success. I hope much more change of this sort is on the way.
Money isn't everything in education, but we can't expect schools to succeed
without adequate resources. In tracking the dollars, however, simple per-pupil
expenditures don't really tell the story of how much money is going into the classrooms,
directly to kids, teachers and learning. On the other hand, students and communities are
very different, and sometimes the numbers are comparing apples and oranges. Inner city
schools, for example, often have much higher costs for security, dilapidated facilities,
children with expensive special needs, English language learners, and so forth.
The fact is, students in our poorest communities often face disadvantages in so
many areas that it is impossible to adequately discuss them all. But let me mention several
issues that I believe are most crucial.
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-- Teaching. The foremost problem is the shortage of high-quality teachers. Study
after study confirms what many of us have always known -- teachers are our most valuable
educational resource." 41 As class size decreases and teacher quality increases, all students,
especially poor and minority children, perform better. Yet today, poor and minority
283 phrasing
children are more likely than their white peers to be taught in moderately larger classes by
less-qualified, less-experienced teachers. Nearly 50 percent of teachers in poor, minority
schools leave after only 3 years. 42 As I noted earlier, students of color are also more likely
to be taught by teachers without certification, without a degree in their field, and with
lower test scores -- and all of this at schools where student underachievement is
commonplace.⁴³
But this is an issue that we can do something about - and an issue on which our
action will have tangible effects. Studies show that if we can rectify these problems, much
of the racial disparity in student achievement disappears.⁴⁴ We have already taken an
41 See, e.g., Eric Hirsch, "Teacher Policy: A Summary of Current Trends," in State
Legislative Report, National Conference of State Legislatures, Vol. 24, No. 5, (February 1998).
42 ED/Scott Palmer. Is it from Darling-Hammond?
43 See, e.g. Linda Darling-Hammond, "Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education,"
Brookings Review, Vol. 16. No. 2, March 22, 1998.
44
Id. Darling Hammond, on p. 4 (non-publication copy) says that "After controlling for
socioeconomic status, the large disparities in student achievement between black and white
students were almost entirely due to differences in the qualifications of their teachers." See
about Ferguson's article.
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important step with Federal legislation in 1998 to help schools decrease class size; I hope
that Congress will carry through on this commitment. Building on that, we must ensure,
through recruitment, training, and professional development, that the teachers in those
classes are fully prepared in the subjects they teach and in effective pedagogical methods.
help We was new first Reim better
More of our brightest Americans must be encouraged to become teachers; colleges must
N
is
commit to better teacher education; and more of our best teachers, including teachers
3
to
has
certified by the prestigious National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, must be
inspired and given incentives to teach in our highest-need communities.
"I
-- Curriculum. Students of all races must have equal access to challenging courses.
This is important not only for reasons of equity, but also because studies have shown that
Also X as
high school curriculum is one of the single most important predictors of students' college
success. 45 That is why it was so important to me that federal legislation early in my
249 God be
Administration gave a vital boost to the high-standards reform movement, including the
effort to ensure that poor children are offered challenging course work. 46 Progress,
however, is too slow. Today, poor and minority children are far more likely than middle
class and white students to take "math for consumers" rather than a solid course in algebra.
Today, minority students are far more likely than whites to attend a high school that offers
45 Scott? Is this right?
46 Data? What part of the early administration proposals concentrated on poor and
minority kids' curriculum?
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few or no Advanced Placement courses, like calculus or second-year chemistry. And,
most unfairly, research suggests that too many poor and minority children are put in
"tracks" or so-called "ability groups" that might be advertised as offering extra help⁴⁷, but
in reality limit students' chances to attend college. If the courses most relevant to the jobs
in tomorrow's economy are offered in suburban schools but not in the inner-city 15 miles
away, should we be surprised if America's economic divide widens in the years ahead?
We share an obligation to face these disparities in opportunity, and to end them.
We know that setting high expectations and offering challenging curriculum can
help poor, minority schools achieve. El Paso, Texas - the 5th poorest major metropolitan
area in the United States, with a school population that is more than 85% Hispanic - has
formed a Collaborative for Educational Excellence between the schools, universities and
community colleges, the mayor's office, and local religious, business, and community
leaders. Over six years, the Collaborative has fostered a culture of excellence by setting
high standards for all students, creating a more challenging math curriculum, and setting
the goal that every student graduates from high school fluent in English and Spanish,
ready to attend college.
47 Need to find source
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The Collaborative's results have been encouraging. The number of schools in the
district identified as low-performing has fallen, and the number of schools recognized as
exemplary has risen dramatically. The percentage of students in El Paso passing the third-
grade reading test now equals the Texas state average. Enrollment in algebra in the district
rose from 59% in 1993 to 95% in 1996. And, over that same period, the percentage of
students passing algebra rose from 32% to 58%. Minority passing rates in college
preparatory courses have improved, in some instances doubling, since the Collaborative
began its work.⁴⁸
I know that every child can learn. If you need proof, visit El Paso. Schools across
America must follow El Paso's lead, setting high expectations for all children and
providing the support that will help them succeed.
-- Buildings. Teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn effectively in
overcrowded, deteriorating, or unsafe schools. What are we saying to our young people
who go to schools with leaky roofs, crumbling walls, and flooded classrooms? We are
saying that school doesn't matter, that education doesn't matter, that they don't matter.
This is the wrong message, and it is harmful. These conditions are most dramatic in our
48 From memo, February 5, 1999, Dan Bernal, US Department of Education. From ED's
Planning and Evaluation Service. [Question: Do we want the El Paso example to go into a text
box?]
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inner cities, where large percentages of minority students attend outdated, dilapidated
schools often just miles away from the modern suburban schools complete with the latest
technology. These conditions are also prevalent in our rural and tribal areas, where
schools are antiquated and inadequate.
The Federal government can and should help with this problem, but at least for the
time being, politics seems to have gotten the better of good sense. Meanwhile, the best
leadership at the state and local level recognizes that we cannot expect our children to
raise themselves up in schools that are literally falling down. We must keep all of our
schools in top-notch physical condition, and we must build new schools where needed.
-- Technology. Closely related to this is the importance of overcoming racial and
class disparities in access to technology.⁴⁹ The changing nature of the economy is one of
the major reasons that this gap is so critical. As recently as the 1950s, 20 percent of the
workforce was professional, 60 percent was unskilled, and 20 percent was skilled. But
today, fewer than 20 percent of the workforce is unskilled, while more than 60% of all
doesn't very
X
jobs require advanced technical and organizational skills.⁵⁰
49 Disparity in tech access: do we have a quote or a stat here?
50 Labor, Commerce, Education, SBA, and NIFL report, Lisa Stuart, etc. 21st c. Skills for
21st c. Jobs Report, www.vpskillsummit.org Stuart and colleagues cite Frank Levy and Richard
J. Murane, Teaching the New Basic Skills: Principles for Educating Children to Thrive in a
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To prepare all students for jobs in the new economy, and to improve education
more generally, every school must have a sufficient number of computers, access to the
Internet, and training on how teachers and students can use technology effectively. My
administration has established a $2 billion Technology Literacy Challenge Fund, designed
to put more computers and more trained computer teachers into classrooms.⁵¹ The new
"E-rate" championed by Vice President Gore discounts the price of technology for
schools, especially those with high levels of poverty, thereby providing precious
technology resources. But the bulk of the investment must come from state, local and
private efforts. If we fail at this, the color divide will be compounded by a digital divide. 52
-- English acquisition. There is strong consensus across racial and ethnic lines
that all students should learn English, and that schools must provide the necessary
resources to help all students learn English within three years. The current needs are great.
Today, approximately 2.3 million children in the United States are deemed Limited
English Proficient (LEP). 53a In addition to a shortage of bilingual teachers, only 28
Changing Economy, New York: 1997 Free Press, p. vii
51 Details? Cite
52
Again, need a statistic or a story or something illustrative here. Mike Davis, Ecology
of Fear
53 The 2.3 million figure is an estimate from 1993. It is likely that the 1999 number is
higher. Most LEP children are clustered in large-city school districts, and in a small number of
states. From Fleischman, H.L. and Hopstock, P.J., Descriptive Study of Services to LEP
Students, Volume 1 Summary of Findings and Conclusions, Arlington VA, Development
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March 17, 1999
percent of teachers with (LEP) students in their classes have received any training in
teaching LEP students. 54 There are many possible models of success in teaching English,
and the best approach depends on each student's needs. But whatever approach is chosen,
it must be judged by its success at teaching LEP students English and helping them
achieve at the same level as students for whom English is their first language.
At the same time, the ability to speak additional languages is a great asset in our
increasingly diverse national and global economy. We should encourage foreign language
learning, starting in early grades, so that all students are fluent in at least one language
other than English. This is one arena in which our nation's growing language diversity
can be beneficial. If we want our children to know many languages, it helps that they go
to school with children who speak many languages.
-- Safety. Most of our schools are safe, but violent crime is a real factor in ten
percent of schools. 55 Moreover, while the numbers are low, black and Hispanic children
are significantly more likely than whites to fear being attacked in school, to report having
Associates, Incorporated, 1993. [from ED website]
54
America's Teachers: Profiles of a Profession, 1993-1994, U.S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, p. A-33.
55 Annual Report on School Safety 1998, 3 (October 1998) (Citing, "Principle/School
Disciplinarian Survey on School Violence," National Center for Education Statistics (1997)).
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March 17, 1999
street gangs in school, to see a gun in school, and more.⁵⁶ Let me be clear: Violence
destroys opportunity. That is why I have proposed a comprehensive school safety
initiative that supports efforts by schools and communities to eliminate guns, drugs, and
violence from our schools.
High Expectations and Accountability
-- Students. In addition to providing better resources, we must promote high
expectations for all students. In large part this means holding all students to high
academic standards and, especially, making sure that tracking does not restrict learning
opportunities. Too often, students are tracked based not on their educational needs but on
their skin color or accent. This is discrimination in the form of low expectations by
teachers and other adults. As I have said, we must not replace the tyranny of segregation
with the tyranny of low expectations (I will have more to say on this subject later in this
chapter, in my discussion of civil rights enforcement.)
Building higher expectations often starts with simply expecting more from
students. Consider this: Surveys show that African-American and Hispanic students feel
56 Id. at 5 citing, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime
Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (1989 and 1995).
57 Specifics on the school safety initiative?
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they can bring home lower grades than their white and Asian Pacific American peers
before their parents will get upset. 58 Other surveys show that minority students most hope
to impress their teachers, not their parents, with their academic performance.⁵⁹ The data
suggest that if students of all races are to be inspired to succeed, parents must demand
more, and teachers must expect a lot.
Peer influence is also important. Too many children of all races seem to look
down on academic work. Research suggests that this situation is even more dramatic for
minority students, who may see academic achievement as a betrayal. As Stephen Carter, a
professor at Yale law school, laments,
"[A] growing ethic in many inner-city schools insists that achievement
itself is somehow a sign of a lack of solidarity -- that people doing well in
school is something that only white people, or black people who are trying
to be white, would seriously want to do [W]hat our kids need is an end
to the foolish and destructive notion that achievement is a betrayal. What is
58 Ronald F. Ferguson, "Racial Test-Score Trends 1971-1996, Popular Culture and
Community Academic Standards" 31, Draft of Paper presented at the National Research
Council's Conference on Racial Trends in the U.S. (September 28, 1998).
59 Id. at 29. [Actually, what Ferguson says is that "evidence supports the conclusion that
teachers' perceptions and expectations are more important for the performance of black students
than whites." The point is about black students, not all students of color.]
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needed most is a rededication to excellence. '''60
We must convince students of all races that being smart and doing well in school are not
about acting "white" or any other color. Role models are important here, and I urge
people who succeed to reach back to their communities to show students that educational
achievement is the key to success in all aspects of life.
-- School Systems and Social Promotion. As I said in outlining the Compact for
Equal Opportunity in Education, it is vital that school systems commit to measuring and
closing the related racial gaps in educational resources and educational achievement. This
results-oriented strategy, in which we hold schools and school systems accountable for
student success, is vital. As Secretary of Education Richard Riley has said, "Creating a
democracy of excellence for the 21st century requires a new level of accountability so we
can raise achievement for all our young people."⁶¹ School report-cards and other
accountability measures help ensure that schools are given incentives to succeed.
Ending social promotion is one important part of a results-oriented strategy. There
60 Stephen Carter, "The Black Table, the Empty Seat, and the Tie," in Lure and Loathing,
ed. Gerald Early, full pub data.
61 U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, "New Challenges, A New Resolve:
Moving American Education Into the 21st Century," The Sixth Annual State of American
Education Speech, Long Beach, California, February 16, 1999.
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are millions of students earning passing grades in their schools while scoring miserably on
all kinds of standardized tests that compare them with students elsewhere. Some of these
"social promotions" occur because teachers and administrators simply don't expect that
certain kids can and should achieve at grade level. Others occur because it is extremely
difficult to hold back entire classes of students, even if all of those students have not yet
learned enough to earn a grade-level promotion. These kinds of "social promotions" move
a student along, but don't serve those students in the long-run.
So, yes, we need to end social promotion. But we must do it the right way. Simply
holding a child back to repeat an unsuccessful learning experience is no solution, either.
Especially since retaining a child in grade can produce alienation and, ultimately, increase
dramatically the chances that child will drop out of school.ᵇ So, before it comes to that, we
must support students who need extra help with policies like extended learning time, after-
school programs, and tutoring. We must enforce civil rights laws to ensure that the no-
social promotion policies aren't abused, and invoked to hold behind those students whom
teachers and administrators believe "can't learn," or whom they just can't manage to
provide with the needed interventions and supports. But, overall, we must make sure that
students aren't simply given credit for "seat time," but really learn the kinds of lessons and
skills that they will need for future success.
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-- Charter schools and public school choice. Public school choice is based on a
simple idea: that children often have different needs and different interests. Some
children, for example, learn best in small schools, with personalized attention from
teachers and classes based on small-group discussion. Other children thrive in larger
schools, which can provide a variety of academic courses as well as many sports and
extracurricular activities. Therefore all children, and their parents, deserve choice.
In my administration, we have encouraged the growth of different kinds of public
schools - some small, some larger, many based on specific academic themes - that are
"chartered" by states. We have also supported student and parent choice among those
schools, as well as among more traditional institutions. Families ought not be restricted
by neighborhood, and thus restricted by race- and class- boundaries. Charter schools and
public school choice together help families obtain the kind of education they want for their
children within the public schools.
Charter schools, and public school choice, have been very successful, particularly
at raising the achievement scores of students in poor, majority-minority communities.
District 4 in New York City's East Harlem, a predominantly black and Hispanic area, has
been transformed by charter schools and by public school choice. The newer charter
schools in East Harlem have increased achievement levels for all students. Somewhat
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surprisingly, even students in larger, more traditional schools are learning more. 62 Experts
believe that the higher scores are a result of the competition generated by charter schools.
In East Harlem, charter schools and public school choice have shown, over more than two
decades, that we can reduce racial gaps in achievement by providing all students the kinds
of educational opportunities they deserve.
*
that world Shings
(2) Increasing College Participation and Graduation
While improving K-12 opportunity and achievement is the long-term solution in
education, we must take additional action to increase college participation and graduation.
Let me mention just three that are central to our pursuit of racial and ethnic justice in One
America.
Expand college enrollment and financial aid
We must continue to expand college access and ensure that all students who want
62 "Study Backs School Choice," The New York Times, February 24, 1998, p. A21.
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and deserve to go to college can afford it. I am proud that we have made much progress in
this area. But much more can be done. Black and Hispanic students are still less likely to
go to college than white students.⁶³ In many cases, this is simply because students from
disadvantaged backgrounds are less aware of college options and of how to take advantage
of those options. Evidence shows that we can increase participation in college by building
partnerships between colleges and high-poverty schools. 64 These partnerships can increase
college expectations and provide support services, such as mentoring and tutoring. We
have taken important action to develop these partnerships through our GEAR UP program
[Descriptive text box to come.] We must build on that to ensure that every degree-granting
college partners with high-poverty schools to make the dream of college a reality for more
low-income and minority students.
Over the last several years, we have retooled and dramatically increased financial
aid for college, including substantial increases in Pell Grants, which are received by more
than half of all minority college students. Nonetheless, the high cost of college remains
the major reason why many students decide not to attend college⁶⁵ and why too many
minority students drop out. 66 Money for college is available to all who need it, and we
63 See Digest of Education Statistics 1997, supra note 13, at 196, Table 186.
64 High Hopes for College for America's Youth, Background document prepared by U.S.
Department of Education, 5 (February 4, 1998).
65 Factors Related to College Enrollment, U.S. Department of Education, Office of the
Under Secretary, 26 (1998).
66 See info for footnote 48 in Ed binder, Dan Goldenberg memo.
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must get that message out. But we must also take additional action to help families that
face undue hardships due to the loss of a college student's contribution to family income.
This last point is critical. As I described earlier, the income disparities between
minorities and whites is bad enough, but the wealth disparities are staggering. In large
part, that reflects the differences in opportunities one, two and more generations ago. But
one important consequence today is that minority families have less wealth to fall back on
to help with college costs or emergencies, and the ability (much less the willingness) of a
student to incur college debt may depend on how securely "middle class" his or her family
feels, or whether the aspiration to middle class security seems genuinely realistic to them.
In the years ahead, achieving equal opportunity in access to higher education means
ensuring that our financial assistance recognizes fully the differences in family
circumstances.
Close racial disparities in graduation rates and increase minority participation
in graduate and professional schools
Getting into college is only half the battle. The better colleges already make a
considerable commitment to ensuring that their students finish successfully, and every
college should do the same. Graduation rates for persons of color remain far below those
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for whites. Of those students beginning college in 1989 and seeking a bachelor's degree,
48 percent of white students and 47 percent of Asian Pacific American students earned a
degree by 1994 compared with 34 percent of blacks and 32 percent of Hispanics. 67 Part of
the difference has to do with financial stresses -- the greater risk that financially strapped
students will have to slow down or drop out.ᶜ Studies show, however, that support services
such as counseling, tutoring, and mentoring in college can significantly increase
graduation rates, especially for Hispanic students. 68 We should expand these efforts.
Community colleges play an important role in expanding educational opportunity,
especially for Hispanic students. These colleges also serve as a bridge to further
education. Studies show that where there are clear agreements linking 2-year and 4-year
colleges, more minority and other students successfully transfer from community college
and more transfer students receive bachelor's degrees.⁶⁹ Two-year and 4-year colleges
must build strong, clear relationships to enhance coordination, increase student transfer
rates, and increase graduation rates.
67 See Digest of Education Statistics 1997, supra note 13 at 324, Table 310.
68 Scott, D of Ed
69
Tom Snyder suggests that we not footnote this. But if we do, we could probably use
Dorothy M. Knoell, "Moving Toward Collaboration in Transfer and Articulation" in New
Directions for Community Colleges, No. 96, Winter 1996, in the ERIC digest. Available on-line
at
www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_digest/ed416934.html
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Finally, students of color are underrepresented across the board in graduate
education. Recent changes in some universities' affirmative action policies have led to
some precipitous, and well-publicized, drops in black and Hispanic law and medical
school attendance.
\
This situation is especially dramatic in the science and technology arenas. Almost
95 percent of all doctorates in science and engineering are earned by whites or Asian
Pacific Americans, and the number of black doctorates is smaller now than 20 years ago.⁷⁰
This is untenable. As a simple demographic matter, as-well as a democratic one, if we
want breadth, depth and excellence in these professions, we must be inclusive, and we
must reach out to black and Hispanic students.
Support minority-serving institutions and build college partnerships
We must support minority-serving institutions, including historically black
colleges and universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and Tribal
colleges. These institutions have played and continue to play a vital role in educating
70 Scott; Artie Bienenstock. Snyder thinks that this last number (black doctorates smaller
than 20 years ago) is wrong. Other stat from Digest of Education Statistics, 1998, NCES.
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students of color. Fifteen percent of black college students attend HBCUs, but HBCUs
award 28 percent of all bachelor's degrees received by blacks. And HSIs award more than
50 percent of all bachelor's degrees received by Hispanics.⁷¹
Minority-serving institutions typically go the extra mile to retain their students,
and more colleges should follow their lead. For example, Xavier University of Louisiana,
a small, historically black university with only 3000 students, leads the nation in
producing black physics, chemistry, and biology graduates and sends more black
graduates to medical schools and pharmacy schools than any other college or university in
the nation. 72 Norman Francis, President of Xavier University, attributes Xavier's success
to demanding hard work while providing all students with the support services they need
to succeed, including advising, tutoring, and assistance in applying to graduate schools.
In addition, we must encourage partnerships between minority-serving institutions
and predominantly white research universities. These partnerships can enrich academic
offerings available to students. In addition, the partnerships can increase diversity by
providing opportunities for students and faculty to interact in different environments.⁷³
71 Digest of Education Statistics 1998, ibid.
72 Scott, article
73 Note: We now have info on the AUC Engineering Dual Degree. Felicia isn't sure
whether it's worth including -- it's a bit complicated, and students from Spelman, Morehouse,
etc. can partner either with mainstream white institutions or with other black universities like
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical. Please advise.
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March 17, 1999
*
(3) Promoting Integration to Enrich the Learning Experience for All Students
Parents, students, institutions, and communities should be able to choose a racially
and ethnically diverse education. Segregation in elementary and secondary schools is
worsening, for several reasons. Housing and demographic trends are the worst culprits, but
there has also been a shift away from court-ordered desegregation remedies put in place
years ago, and some lessening of local political support for voluntary school district efforts
that would ease racial isolation. Furthermore, diversity in higher education, though
strongly supported by the higher education community and the nation, is under attack on
several fronts.
As I said earlier, 74 I firmly believe in the value of integration in education, while
recognizing that it has been a painful subject in families and communities around the
country for generations. As my Advisory Board said in it final report, the goals of quality
and integration in education are complementary. Diversity is not about political
74 See the discussion of integration in Part II, supra.
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correctness. We know that, for minorities, racial isolation in K-12 education is almost
always combined with concentrated poverty, and quite often with an underperforming
education system; integrated schools are far more likely to narrow the racial disparities in
cate?
achievement. Moreover, integration has real, tangible benefits for all students, and for our
society. Diversity improves teaching and learning by providing a range of perspectives
that enrich the learning environment. It teaches good citizenship by giving students the
opportunity learn with, learn from, and build relationships with people different than they
are. It improves students' preparation for employment by teaching them how to function
in work settings with people of different backgrounds and beliefs. And it fosters the
advancement of knowledge by encouraging students to study a rich variety of issues and
cultures.
Integration is vital to the healthy functioning of our economy, our democracy and
our society. To encourage it, we must take several actions:
Reduce racial segregation among and within K-12 schools
Today, 67 percent of black students and 74 percent of Hispanic students attend
primary and secondary schools with greater than 50 percent minority enrollment, and more
than one-third of black and Hispanic students attend schools with more than 90 percent
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March 17, 1999
minority enrollment.⁷⁵ We must reduce this racial segregation and isolation among
schools. The single most important thing we can do to promote integration is to make all
schools excellent, and make sure that excellence attracts a diverse student population.
There are also innovative ways to give more parents and children the option of an
integrated education. We should expand interdistrict magnet and charter schools. Many of
these schools are small, and therefore can provide students important individualized
teaching. Many of them also build their curriculum around exciting themes, like science
and technology or performing arts, and so attract students of all backgrounds who share
the love of a certain subject. We must also 9 support schools that are located in large
employers' facilities and on university campuses. These can help break down the class-
and race-barriers that still plague our neighborhood schools. And, finally, we must attack
the residential problem directly by promoting housing integration efforts that will allow
neighborhood schools to be truly multi-racial. (More on this later.)
Even in so-called integrated schools, however, too many students are resegregated
into different classes, with students of color overrepresented in remedial and special
education classes.⁷⁶ Furthermore, students sometimes self-segregate in inappropriate
75 Orfield et al., supra note 20, at 11.
76 Scott
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ways. We must take action to ensure that tracking based on biased expectations and faulty
policies does not resegregate students and thereby undermine our efforts to have the kind
of quality that will build One America.
Promote the benefits of diversity in higher education
College and university leaders have long known that diversity in the student body
is essential to providing everyone on campus with a complete educational experience.
According to Neil Rudenstine, President of Harvard University, "The conception of a
diverse student body as an educational resource -- comparable in importance to the
faculty, library, or science laboratories -- is the most direct expression of an idea that we
have seen emerging over the course of more than a century."77 Studies show that where
the resource of racial diversity is used effectively, all students benefit. 78 However,
diversity in higher education is poorly understood in the public arena and is under attack
on several fronts. Most dramatically, in states where affirmative action has been outlawed,
we have seen a dramatic decrease in the numbers of students of color accepted at the most
prestigious institutions. For example, in 1998, the University of California, Berkeley had
77 Neil Rudenstine, President, Harvard University, Report to the Harvard University
Board of Overseers, 1993-1995, 33 (January 1996).
78 Scott
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March 17, 1999
to reject more than 800 highly qualified black, Hispanic, and Native American applicants
each of whom had a 4.0 or higher GPA and scored 1200 or higher on the SAT.⁷⁹
I address elsewhere the issue of affirmative action. But here I want to make the
more general point that as a nation we must recognize the great value of diversity in higher
education. In their recent book The Shape of the River, William G. Bowen and Derek Bok
showed that college students of all races want a diverse educational experience.
According to surveys of black and white graduates of selective universities who began
college in 1989, a majority of both blacks and whites believe that "the ability to work
effectively and get along with people of different races and cultures" is "very important."80
A majority of both blacks and whites also believe their undergraduate experience was of
"considerable value" in developing those skills based on interactions with students of
different races.⁸¹ And the vast majority of both blacks and whites believe that their school
should continue to place the same or greater emphasis on diversity.⁸² What was true for
elementary and secondary schools is just as true for college: properly understood, diversity
79 Rene Sanchez, "With Ban on Preferences, UC Will Enroll 12% Fewer Blacks,
Hispanics," The Washington Post, May 21, 1998, p. A10.
80 William G. Bowen, Derek Bok, The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of
Considering Race in College and University Admissions, 221-240 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1998).
81 Id. At 239.
82 Id. At 245.
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March 17, 1999
and integration are important parts of educational excellence.
We must preserve and develop appropriate mechanisms to ensure diversity in the
short- and long-term. Furthermore, colleges and universities must promote the educational
benefits of diversity by creating supportive campus environments and by promoting
positive cross-racial interactions among students.
*
CONCLUSION
Tearing down the walls of disparity and division in American education is as vital
to our future as the defeat of fascism was in World War II, or the global stabilization of
struggling economies is today. For too long we have professed support for equal
opportunity without grappling with the glaring inequities faced by too many of our
children. As the new century begins, it is time to recognize that quality education, with an
equal opportunity to achieve, is a civil right indispensable to our effort to create One
America with racial and ethnic justice. I have no illusions about the difficulty of this. Yet,
as challenging as it may be to some of our old ideas about roles and responsibilities, this
vision is true to our best ideals. And we must not fail to act. The costs of delay are
mounting. Our children and our nation are in danger of falling behind in a world that is
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March 17, 1999
forging ahead.
Remember, these are all our children. Each of them is eight years old but once.
The choices we make will put them on a track to nowhere or a track toward achieving their
full, God-given potential. If we do not prepare them well, they may spend a lifetime
struggling to find a way in from the cold margins of the new economy. And if our
children learn apart, they won't know how to live together. This requires more than
passing laws against hateful conduct. It requires a passage of spirit, from the old world of
racial separation, to a new world of shared hopes, common values, and unity. Education is
the vessel that will get us there. It must be our number one priority. Nothing less is at
stake than the strength of our economy, the vitality of our democracy, and the soul of our
nation.
How we meet the challenge remains a window on our hearts.
***
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[Editorial endnotes:]
a. Should we use the term "English Language Learners"?
b. Get cites.
c. Check this and get cite if possible.
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 3, Crime
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PART III: THE OPPORTUNITY WE DESERVE
[Introduction to Part III]
[Sections 1-2]
3. COMMUNITY SECURITY, AND A CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
THAT SERVES ALL AMERICANS FULLY AND FAIRLY
A. INTRODUCTION
I ask every American who lives in a safe community to imagine what it would be
like to live in neighborhood where you and your family feared violence every day. Are
we willing to remain a nation that seems to tolerate having communities where law-
abiding residents live in fear and other law-abiding persons fear to enter? More than
anywhere else, our highest-crime communities-many of which are communities of
color-want, need, and deserve strong law enforcement to restore order, reduce crime,
and help build hospitable environments for families and businesses. But we must not
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March 17, 1999
substitute prisons for playgrounds, or parole officers for church deacons and college
teachers. As we redouble efforts to ensure every family's right to a safe community, we
must take action in every community across our nation to keep young people out of crime
and build trust and confidence in the criminal justice system across racial lines.
*
Whenever Americans are asked what issues concern them most, crime is near the
top of the list even though we've been reducing violent crime rates. Most of us live in
relatively safe and crime free communities, confident that our children won't get mixed
up in crime and will have the chance to succeed to their full potential. And most of us
believe that the criminal justice system exists "to protect and to serve" us-to ensure
public safety, prevent crime, and promote justice.
Some Americans, however, live in communities in which crime is pervasive and
fear of crime is constant. Some children grow up struggling to avoid being victims of
crime, in places where their peers are more likely to go to prison than they are to go to
college. Some law-abiding citizens have had experiences with our criminal justice
system that lead them to believe that they are more likely to be targets of law enforcement
than they are to be served by it. And more often than not, the people and communities
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facing these conditions are people and communities of color.
Some of our deepest and most complex challenges of race in America arise in the
context of criminal justice. Today, crime rates are at their lowest levels in nearly 25
years. Since 1993, the violent crime rate has dropped more than 18 percent nationwide,
including a 28-percent drop in the homicide rate, which is at its lowest level in 30 years.¹
These are astonishing achievements. Nonetheless, as the Advisory Board on Race said in
its final report, "Racial disparities persist in both the realities and perceptions of crime
and the administration of justice."2
Despite recent, substantial decreases in criminal victimization across racial lines,
persons of color remain significantly more likely than whites to be victims of crime,
especially violent crime. For example, American Indians are more than twice as likely to
be victims of homicide than whites or Asian Pacific Islanders; Hispanics are
approximately 3 times more likely; and blacks are approximately 8 times more likely.³
The homicide rate for black males is 58 per 100,000, compared to 5 per 100,000 for white
1 Crime in the United States, 1997, U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, 5-16 (November 1998).
2 Advisory Board, supra note , at 81.
3 See Changing America, supra note , at 53, Chart 1.
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males.4 Homicide, moreover, remains the leading cause of death for young, black males,
and ranks second for young Hispanic males.⁵ Persons of color are also significantly more
likely than whites to fear crime. Black and Hispanic households, for example, are
approximately twice as likely as white households to identify crime as a neighborhood
problem.⁶
Also sobering are figures that show that women of color are prone to be victims of
violent crime. A forthcoming Justice Department study found that victimization of
African American women was 32 percent greater than for white women.⁷ An earlier
study found that Hispanic women were victims 21 percent more often than non-Hispanic
women.⁸ Most sobering, a 1999 Justice Department study revealed that American Indian
4 Christopher Stone, Race, Crime and the Administration of Justice: A Summary of
Available Facts, Presentation to the Advisory Board of the President's Initiative on Race, 2 (May
19, 1998).
5
6 Carol J. DeFrances and Steven K. Smith, Perceptions of Neighborhood Crime, 1995,
U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, 2 (April 1998).
7 For black women, 44.7 per 1,000 persons age 12 and over, versus 33.9 for white
women. Criminal Victimization in the United States, 1997: A National Crime Victimization
Survey Report. Forthcoming. Bureau of Justice Statistics.
8 The rate for Hispanic women was 52 per 1,000, versus 43 per 1,000 for non-Hispanic
women. Criminal Victimization in the United States, 1994: A National Crime Victimization
Survey Report. May 1997. Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ-162126. Page 3.
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women are twice as likely to suffer from a violent crime than women of all other races.⁹
In fact, the rate of violent crime
experienced by American Indian
women is nearly 50 percent higher than
Chart/Graph on Victimization
that reported by black males. 10 These
[Provide a bar chart or other graphic to illustrate racial
startling numbers tell a story that is
disparities in victimization.]
often missed in discussions about
crime: not only are communities of
color more likely to be victimized by
violent crime, but women in those communities are especially at risk.
Most crime is intraracial. Nine out of every 10 murders, for example, involve
victims and offenders of the same race. 11 So, the fact that minorities are
disproportionately more likely to be victims is connected to the fact that more minorities
are disproportionately committing offenses. Nonetheless, whites commit a majority of all
crime, including a majority of all violent crime. 12
a
9 American Indians and Crime. 1999. Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ-173386. Page 4
10 Id.
11 [BJS data summary, page 9.]
12
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Here's another key fact. Overall, the greater risk of crime faced by minorities is
due to extremely high crime rates in a small number of poor, largely urban communities
of color, with much of that crime being committed by and against young males.¹³ And
crime rates remain high in parts of Indian country as well; the number of murders in
Indian Country rose sharply between 1992 and 1996, contrasting sharply with the
promising national trend during the same period.¹⁴
W
hy do these conditions exist? It is too easy to throw up our hands and
blame it all on some culture of lawlessness which most of us have
only read about or seen on television, and which too many people unfairly adopt as a
stereotype. But we must look beyond the footage on the local TV news. Despite what
some may say, I believe the crime in our highest-crime communities is neither inevitable
nor incurable. Much of it can be stopped and prevented if we refuse to ignore it and if we
are resolute in our approach to establishing order, raising healthy children, and building
strong communities. Consider this parallel: In education, we are spurred to expect
excellence by believing that every child can learn. In criminal justice, we must believe
13 For example, nearly half of all homicides occur in only 47 of approximately 14,000
police jurisdictions. Lawrence Sherman, Cooling the Hot Spots of Homicide: A Plan of Action, in
What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities, U.S.
Department of Justice, Executive Office for Weed and Seed Report, 42 (January 1998).
14 "Final Report to the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Interior," the Executive
Committee for Indian Country Law Enforcement Improvements, 4 (October 1997).
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that every family in every community can be safe.
Studies show that the dramatically high crime rates in these communities are
linked to a number of community factors, including extreme and pervasive poverty
(especially mass unemployment), widespread family disruption (including the
predominance of single-parent households), and frequent residential turnover.¹⁵
Together, these factors result in concentrated disadvantage and the destruction of
community order and cohesiveness, and put enormous stress on community institutions
such as schools and small businesses. Young people who grow up in these communities
have limited legitimate opportunities, few role models, and little community supervision.
Add to these conditions the proliferation of guns and illegal drug markets, and the result
is high rates of crime among youth and young adults. Poverty, family disruption, and
residential instability are not excuses for crime; they are explanations for why crime has
taken hold in some communities and how it has destroyed the communal need to take
care of each other. Absent these factors, rates of criminal offending and victimization do
not differ significantly by race, but the communities in which these troubling conditions
exist together are often communities of color.¹ 16
15 E.g., Robert Sampson, The Community, in Crime, James Q. Wilson and Joan Petersilia,
eds., 193-202 (1995); Stone, supra note at 2.
16 Sampson, supra note , at 202; Stone, supra note , at 2; Robert Sampson and Janet
Lauritsen, Violent Victimization and Offending: Individual, Situational, and Community-Level
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The costs of crime in these minority communities are dramatic. In addition to the
direct costs to crime victims and their families, there are substantial psychological, social,
and economic costs for the other law-abiding citizens who live there. We must not forget
that in the poorest, highest crime neighborhoods in this country, the vast majority of
people get up every day, go to work, obey the law, pay their taxes, and do their best to
raise their kids. In these communities, however, fear of crime limits social interactions
and destroys the sense of community. Fear of crime restricts economic investment and
job opportunities. Fear of crime creates the very conditions of social disorder in which
crime itself can flourish. It is these communities in which strong, effective law
enforcement is needed most.
However, persons of color often have less trust and confidence in law
enforcement than whites, and these perceptions of unfairness limit the effectiveness of
law enforcement in communities of color. For example, more than 7 out of 10 blacks
believe that blacks are treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than whites,
and more than 4 out of 10 whites agree. 17 Furthermore, of those crime victims who did
not report the incident to police, approximately twice as many blacks than whites say they
Risk Factors, in Understanding and Preventing Violence, National Academy of Sciences, Albert
J. Reiss and Jeffrey Roth, eds., Vol. 3 (1993). [?]
17 Changing America, supra note , at 59, Chart 7.
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did not report the crime because the police would not care or would be inefficient,
ineffective, or biased. 18 Why do so many believe the system is unfair? There are many
reasons, of course, both historical and current: the use of so-called racial profiling,
incidents of police brutality, racial disparities in incarceration rates and sentencing, the
lack of diversity in the criminal justice system, and of course the ever present sense that
the rich get a better shake than the poor.
Let me be clear: I believe the justice system is for the most part fair, though areas
of unfairness remain. These limited areas are serious problems by themselves, but their
existence also feeds perceptions that the system fails to protect people of color. During a
meeting I had last year with a group of black journalists, I asked how many of them had
been stopped by the police within the last few years for no reason other than the color of
their skin. Every one of them raised his or her hand. Whether this is a matter of reality or
perception-and I believe it is a combination of both-it must be addressed by all of us
with responsibility for law enforcement and community security.
And while many minority communities want and need strong law enforcement,
they are also bearing an enormous price for high rates of incarceration, especially for
young men of color. Today, one-third of all young, black males are under the supervision
18 [BJS data summary, 27.]
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of the criminal justice system (on probation, in prison, or on parole). 19 In cities such as
Baltimore, more than 50 percent of young, black males are under criminal justice
supervision. 20 Overall, the chance that a young male will go to prison during his lifetime
is approximately 4 percent for whites, 16 percent for Hispanics, and nearly 30 percent for
blacks.²¹ While persons of color comprise less than one-third of the overall population in
the United States, they comprise more than two-thirds of the Federal and state prison
populations, with blacks alone comprising nearly 50 percent of the prison population.²²
These rates of imprisonment have substantial social and economic effects on minority
communities, contributing to the rise in poor, single-parent, female-headed households,
the lack of employable males of color, and the disenfranchisement of 1.4 million black
males alone--they don't vote because they aren't permitted to.²³
T
hese conditions are intolerable. No American should have to live in
constant fear of crime. No American should have reason to mistrust the
very officers of the state assigned to protect him or her. No American should grow up
19
20 [?]
21 Lifetime Likelihood of Going to State or Federal Prison, U.S. Department of Justice,
Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2 (1997).
22
23
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believing that a stay in prison is a rite of passage. We must take action to eliminate these
conditions and to build a criminal justice system that serves Americans of all races fully
and fairly. I believe we must do three things:
First and foremost, we must reduce crime and restore order in selected
communities of color where crime and fear of crime are greatest. Every American has the
right to live in a safe community, and we should not be able to identify high-crime
neighborhoods based on the race of the residents who live there.
Second, we must prevent young people of color from becoming involved in crime
and the criminal justice system. The present situation is dramatic. For black males born
2nd
today, the odds of going to prison are greater than the odds of going to college. And
racial disparities-from arrest through incarceration-are greater in the juvenile justice
?, carphic
?
system than in the adult system. The debate about whether there is something
fundamentally wrong with "the system" is not going to be settled, but that should not stop
us from responding to these disparities decisively: we must intervene to prevent juvenile
delinquency before we lose another generation of minority youth to crime, as either
victims or offenders. And for the kids who do get in trouble, we must intervene in their
lives to help them become productive and successful members of society.
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Third, we must build trust and confidence in the criminal justice system among
persons of color. The vast majority of law enforcement officers in this nation are
dedicated public servants of great courage and high moral character who deserve the
respect of citizens of all races. I also want to stress that concepts such as community
policing-a subject I will discuss more below-is helping to restore trust in the justice
system. Furthermore, though some will disagree, evidence suggests that racial
discrimination is not endemic to law enforcement. Evidence also shows, however, that
racial stereotypes and biases still exist, incidents of police brutality based on race still
occur, and policies that have an unjustified disparate impact on persons of color are still
functioning. Absent an extraordinary justification, no person should be the target of law
enforcement based on the color of his or her skin. We must eliminate these conditions and
increase fairness and trust in the criminal justice system.
In summary, to help us achieve our vision of One America, our workplan for
criminal justice must increase community safety, prevent young people from entering the
system, and build confidence and trust in law enforcement. We have laid the foundation
for this approach, and we have already made important progress. That foundation is
community policing-an approach to criminal justice that emphasizes strong partnerships
between law enforcement and communities to prevent crime.
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C
ommunity policing is a relatively new model of law enforcement that
focuses on preventing crime by restoring order in communities, solving
community problems, and building partnerships between law enforcement officers and
the citizens they serve. Community policing is based on several interrelated principles:
First, studies show that reducing disorder in communities can help reduce fear of crime,
encourage citizens to interact with one another and their community, and thereby
decrease crime itself. Second, preventing crime requires more than making arrests; police
must also identify and help solve the underlying community problems that cause crime.
using
Third, both reducing disorder and solving community problems require strong relations
between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. In order to reduce
disorder and fear of crime, police must get to know the concerns, needs, and values of
law-abiding citizens. In order to solve problems that cause crime, police must look to
these same law-abiding citizens for information about those problems. Finally, citizens
and community organizations can play a vital role as partners in reducing disorder and
solving community problems, and these efforts can directly improve community
cohesiveness, which in turn can further reduce crime.
Before I ran for President, I traveled across the country and visited different cities
where local officials were leading the way in solving some of the nation's most difficult
domestic problems. One of the places I visited was Charleston, South Carolina, where
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Police Chief Reuben Greenberg was at the forefront of the community policing
movement. Through community policing, Chief Greenberg was both driving down the
crime rate in public housing and strengthening the relationship between local police and
community residents.
where's the Ind
/
3
When I became President, one of my top priorities was to help our cities hire more
police and expand the community policing philosophy. Vice President Gore and I were
proud to work with an unprecedented coalition of teachers, clergy, law enforcement and
elected officials, and other community leaders to pass our initiative to put 100,000 more
community police on the street. Today, we have nearly reached this goal and helped
expand community policing to thousands of police departments across the country. Our
efforts are making a difference. Crime and fear of crime have dropped to their lowest
levels in a quarter century. And I have asked Congress to extend the program by adding
another 50,000 officers.
Our efforts in community
Community Policing and the Clinton-Gore
policing provide a solid foundation for
Administration
[Text box on ways in which the Administration has
achieving the goals of enhancing safety
promoted community policing.]
in our highest crime communities,
keeping young people out of the
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criminal justice system, and increasing trust and confidence in law enforcement. To fully
achieve these goals, we should build on that foundation by applying the lessons learned
from community policing in other areas of the criminal justice system, such as local
prosecutors' offices, our courts, and local jails.
In the balance of this chapter I offer a workplan to guide us all in our efforts. Let
me first highlight the centerpiece for continued federal leadership.
*
B. CENTERPIECE OF THE FEDERAL WORKPLAN:
THE COMMUNITY JUSTICE "HoT SPOTS" INITIATIVE
In order to reduce and prevent crime in our highest crime communities, I propose
a Community Justice "Hot Spots" Initiative-a comprehensive community policing
and crime prevention initiative targeted to neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage,
social disorder, and high crime rates. Like multiple fire hoses aimed at the center of a
blaze, Hot Spots will target proven community safety efforts into a single stream aimed at
crime hot spots. For communities willing to tackle conditions in their highest crime
neighborhoods:
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The federal government will target funds from a number of key criminal
justice programs -- both enforcement and prevention -- including our 21st
Century Policing Initiative, which will extend our community policing
initiative by supporting additional police and other resources in the places
that need them most.
To be eligible for this pool of targeted funds, communities will be required
to bring all the actors to the table (federal, state, and local; public and
private; law enforcement and other services; and, most important,
concerned citizens and community leaders) to develop a coordinated,
comprehensive action plan aimed at preventing and combating crime in
specific high-crime neighborhoods.
The community action plans will promote accountability by setting
concrete goals for reducing crime, reducing fear of crime, increasing
confidence and trust in law enforcement, and more. Continued federal
support from the targeted pool would be tied to progress.
With this Hot Spots support, communities will implement comprehensive plans
aimed at high-crime areas and designed to (1) enhance law enforcement and establish
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community policing, (2) rebuild community infrastructure, and (3) initiate proven
prevention programs aimed at young people, such as mentoring and after-school
programs. I cannot stress this third element enough. Just as overcoming disparities in
educational achievement requires taking action in early childhood and elementary
education, preventing crime by teens and young adults requires taking action early in
their lives to increase community supervision, provide adult support, strengthen families,
and instill a belief in opportunity. All of this should go hand-in-hand with other
community and economic development efforts aimed at our most distressed communities,
so that community plans should include business, education, faith and other sectors as
partners.
Many strategies show promise for reducing crime in our highest crime
communities. But hard evidence from program evaluations has been limited because too
few good studies have been done. Much of this is hard (not impossible) for social science
to measure, and no one has all the answers. The "Hot Spots" Initiative, therefore, is
designed to be flexible and to support innovative local approaches to reducing crime. All
community plans must, however, include evaluation mechanisms, and those evaluations
must show positive results to receive continued federal support.
By focusing the resources of many programs and many actors on the concentrated
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problems facing our highest crime neighborhoods, we can vastly improve public safety,
and we can do so in a way that helps keep young people out of crime and builds
confidence and trust in our criminal justice system as well.
*
C. A WORKPLAN FOR THE NATION
The nation's agenda in criminal justice should focus on both decreasing crime and
improving the administration of justice. To Build One America, we must:
Ensure public safety in our highest crime communities;
Keep young people out of crime and the criminal justice system; and
Build fairness and trust in our criminal justice system across racial lines.
These are interrelated. We cannot, for example, enhance public safety in our highest
crime communities without implementing proven crime prevention programs aimed at
youth or without improving relations between citizens of color and law enforcement.
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Still, it helps to separate these goals and focus more concretely on how to achieve each of
them.
*
(1) Ensuring Public Safety in Our Highest Crime Communities
Today, although crime rates are dropping across the nation and for all racial
groups, they remain unacceptably high in a small number of deeply poor, mostly minority
communities. These high-crime areas are concentrated in urban centers, but exist in other
areas as well, including parts of Indian country. The Community Justice "Hot Spots"
Initiative, described above, would expand the Federal commitment to those communities.
Whether as part of Hot Spots or otherwise, there are several important, interrelated
actions for all of us to take-all levels of government, and community partners as
well-to reclaim these communities so that parents can raise their children in safety,
businesses can invest with confidence, and all law-abiding citizens can enjoy the simple
pleasures of life free from crime and fear of crime. Americans of all races deserve no
less.
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Enhance targeted law enforcement and address the problems of gangs, guns,
and drugs
Research confirms that increased law enforcement can help prevent crime, and
these returns can be greatest in our highest crime communities.²⁴ According to a recent
study, "each additional police officer assigned to a big city prevents six times as many
serious crimes each year as an officer assigned nationally by population." But to be
most effective, increased law enforcement must be aimed at the right places and factors.
Crime is largely a concentrated phenomenon. Even within our highest crime
areas, the vast majority of crime occurs in relatively few places and at relatively few
times. Studies have shown that as little as three percent of all street addresses can
account for as much as 50 percent of the crime in a given community.26 These "hot spots
within hot spots" may include buildings, parks, or street corners that serve as havens for
24 Lawrence Sherman, Policing for Crime Prevention, in Preventing Crime: What Works,
What Doesn't, What's Promising, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Report
prepared by the University of Maryland Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 8-9 to
8-10 (1997).
25 Id. at 8-37; Thomas B. Marvell and Carlisle E. Moody, Specification Problems, Police
Levels and Crime Rates, in Criminology 34:609-46 (1996). [?]
26 E.g., Lawrence Sherman, Patrick R. Gartin, and Michael E. Buerger, Hot Spots of
Predatory Crime: Routine Activities and the Criminology of Place, in Criminology 27-55
(Volume 27, 1989). [?]
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criminal activity. The best law enforcement strategies identify high-crime places through
computer mapping, and then increase police patrols at those high-crime places at high-
crime times. Importantly, research shows that enhancing such targeted law enforcement
does not simply displace crime, but actually reduces it.
In addition, whatever unique problems exist in a given high-crime community,
two problems likely to be pervasive are guns and drugs. And we know that the heart of
the violent crime problem is the combination of guns and drugs. Alfred Blumstein and
other noted criminologists postulate that the rise in violent crime in our highest-crime
communities during the 1980s was the result of a rise in gun violence among youth
caused by the emergence of crack cocaine. According to Professor Blumstein:
[C]rack arrived in the mid-1980s, initially in the larger cities, and spread from
there to the smaller cities. Because crack required many more sellers to meet the
increased demand there was major recruitment of young minorities to serve in
that role.ᵇ They were carrying valuable property-drugs or the proceeds from the
sale of those drugs-and so they had to take steps to protect themselves from
robbery. Because they were dealing in an illegal market, they could not call the
police if someone tried to steal their valuables. Their self-protection involved
carrying handguns. Because young men are tightly networked and highly
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imitative, their colleagues-even those not involved in selling drugs-armed
themselves also, at least in part as a matter of self-protection against those who
were armed. That led to an arms race in many inner-city neighborhoods.
It is widely recognized that violence has always been part of teenage males'
dispute resolution repertoire, but that has typically involved fights, the
consequences of which were usually no more serious than a bloody nose. The
lethality of the ubiquitous guns contributed in a major way to the doubling of the
homicide rate by (and of) those 18 and under.²⁷
One important lesson from this theory is that guns do kill people, especially
young people of color in our most disadvantaged communities. In places where
community supervision is limited, many young people are armed, and gangs exert great
influence, disputes are more likely to be "resolved" through gun violence. Nearly half of
all murders committed in the United States each year are committed by persons under 24
years old with guns. 28 In the words of criminologists Philip Cook and Mark Moore,
27 Alfred Blumstein, The Context of Recent Changes in Crime Rates, in What Can the
Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities, U.S. Department of
Justice, Executive Office for Weed and Seed report, 15 (January 1998).
28
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"There are very few drive-by knifings, or people killed accidentally by stray fists. "29 We
must take action to stop gun violence and to keep guns out of the hands of those who
should not have them, including convicted felons and juveniles. Promising approaches
include increased seizures of illegally carried guns at crime hot spots, "tracing" of guns
seized in crime to crack down on illegal gun sales, and Brady Act background checks to
prevent gun purchases by convicted felons and others prohibited from buying guns.
In addition, we must crack down on gang activity. Today, there are an estimated
23,000 gangs with 665,000 members in 2,000 jurisdictions across the country, and there
is evidence that these numbers are growing.³⁰ Research shows that gang members
account for a high percentage of crime in our highest crime communities and that gang
membership itself encourages criminal activity.3¹ We must prevent and reduce gang
membership and crime. In large part, this means increasing support for prevention
programs aimed at our young people. Simply put, we must draw the line against gang and
gun violence in our highest crime communities. By doing so, we can reduce crime and
save lives. For example, in Boston, law enforcement and community leaders-especially
29 Philip J. Cook and Mark H. Moore, Gun Control, in Crime, James Q. Wilson and Joan
Petersilia, eds., 273 (1995).
30 J.P. Moore, The 1995 Youth Gang Survey, Report to the U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Programs (1996). [?]
31
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clergy leaders-came together in 1996 and made clear to gang members that any gun
violence by any gang member would
be met with a massive, comprehensive
The Boston Gun Project
crackdown against all members of the
The Boston Gun Project presents an innovative
approach to deterring violent crime: combining the
gang. The result was an immediate
efforts of the Boston Police Department, the
departments of probation and parole, the U.S.
Attorney's and county prosecutor's offices, the
decline in the number of juvenile
Attorney General's Office, school police, youth
corrections, social services, and other partners, the
homicides in Boston to zero for two
Ceasefire Working Group meets with gangs, makes it
clear that violence will not be tolerated, and backs up
that message with swift and strong reactions if
consecutive years. Still, researchers tell
violence does occur. The strategy has demonstrated
that communicating up-front the consequences of gang
us that we know far too little about the
violence and backing up the message brings about
impressive results.
strategies most likely to work in
different communities. Gangs sow
chaos, and we must redouble our efforts to combat them not only with effective police
work, but also by strengthening families, improving our schools, and strengthening the
community institutions that create hope.
Finally, while the use of some drugs is decreasing in many places,ᶜ the percentage
of persons who commit crimes under the influence of drugs is increasing, and drug
markets continue to threaten order in our highest crime communities.³² That's why we
cannot ease up our attacks on drug use and illicit drug markets. However, we must also
acknowledge that the war on drugs has taken a terrible, disproportionate toll on persons
32
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on communities of color-compounding the destruction from the drug scourge itself. We
cannot allow the war on drugs to be a war on minority persons or communities, or to be
perceived that way in the very communities upon whose cooperation our efforts depend.
So, with more effective enforcement, we need a reinvigorated focus on prevention,
treatment and promoting greater fairness in administration of our drug laws.
We have made important progress in the war on drugs, but we cannot
"incarcerate" ourselves to victory in these most needy communities.
Engage the community and establish community policing
While increasing law enforcement can help reduce crime in our highest crime
communities, it must be the right kind of law enforcement done in the right way. Most
importantly, it is essential that the community itself be fully engaged in both the
development and implementation of any new public safety effort. Without that
involvement, targeted law enforcement efforts may be perceived not as comprehensive
community building but as a full-scale assault on selected minority neighborhoods.
Instead of increasing public safety, we can end up increasing mistrust of law enforcement,
thereby actually reducing its effectiveness.
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Research shows that by improving the legitimacy of police in the eyes of the
community, we can not only reduce tensions, but also help prevent crime.³³ Building that
police legitimacy requires training police and citizens to interact effectively, with mutual
respect, and building lines of communication through community meetings and other
mechanisms. (I will say more on these issues below with regard to building confidence
and trust in the criminal justice system.) In all of this, however, we must recognize that
racial and ethnic differences, festering as mistrust and suspicion, stand in the way of
achieving what both the community
TEXT BOX
and the police seek: the community
Chicago's Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS):
Chicago's Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) seeks
security to which every American is
to identify and resolve problems of crime at the
neighborhood level by putting more police on the
entitled.
street, training police and citizens in problem solving
and partnership building, and holding hundreds of
community meetings each month around the city at
which thousands of Chicagoans interact with their
community policing officers. Evaluations of CAPS
The community must also be
show that the effort has been successful in reducing
crime, reducing fear of crime, and improving relations
between citizens and law enforcement.
fully engaged because each
community's crime problem is to
some extent unique, and the law-abiding citizens of each community are the best resource
for understanding the roots of the crime and fear of crime they face. Partnerships are,
therefore, the heart of community policing. Since 1993, the number of communities
implementing community policing has increased from hundreds to more than 9,000. In
33 See Sherman, supra note , at 8-26; Tom Tyler, Why People Obey the Law (1990). [?]
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1998, we took action at the federal level to target community policing resources to our
highest need cities, and I have proposed similar targeting of future federal community
policing resources as well. Evidence shows -as with Chicago's Alternative Policing
Strategy (CAPS) (see text box)³⁴ that the expansion of community policing has
contributed greatly to the decrease in crime across our nation and to better police-
community relations.
As difficult as these problems are, there is reason to hope. Law enforcement need
not be a losing battle if we use what we know, invest what we can, and stay focused on
the goal of community security.
Build stronger communities
While law enforcement is important, crime prevention in most communities is a
consequence not only of government or law enforcement, but is primarily based on the
strength of the community itself, and the families within it. As one authority has put it:
Each person's bonds to family, community, school and work create what
criminologists call 'informal social control,' the pressures to conform to the law
34
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that have little to do with the threat of punishment. Informal controls threaten
something that may be far more fearsome than simply life in prison: shame and
disgrace in the eyes of other people you depend upon. 35
Emerging research shows that crime rates in communities are related to what researchers
call "collective efficacy," which simply means the degree of social cohesion in a
community-the extent to which neighbors know, trust, and look out for one another; the
more there is, the lower the crime rates.³⁶ So, formal law enforcement efforts must be
fully aligned with and support a range of community- and school-based efforts that
leverage informal social controls-from parent-teacher associations to neighborhood
watch programs.
However, communities with the highest crime rates not surprisingly have the
worst social conditions for preventing crime-pervasive unemployment, family
disruption, residential instability, and symptoms of disorder and seemingly petty
35 Lawrence W. Sherman, Thinking About Crime Prevention in Preventing Crime: What
Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising 2-7, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs Report prepared by the University of Maryland Department of Criminology and
Criminal Justice (1997).
36
Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush, Felton Earls, Neighborhoods and Violent
Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy, in Science, Vol. 277, 918-24 (August 15,
1997).
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lawlessness. According to Wesley Skogan:
Disorder is evident in the widespread appearance of junk and trash in vacant lots;
it is evident, too, in decaying homes, boarded-up buildings, the vandalism of
public and private property, graffiti, and stripped and abandoned cars in streets
and alleys. It is signaled by bands of teenagers congregating on street corners, by
the presence of prostitutes and panhandlers, by public drinking, the verbal
harassment of women, and open gambling and drug use. What these conditions
have in common is that they signal a breakdown of local social order.
Communities beset by disorder can no longer expect people to act in a civil
fashion in public places
Researchers have found that perceptions of disorder have many ill effects on
urban neighborhoods. Disorder not only sparks concern and fear of crime among
neighborhood residents; it may actually increase the level of serious crime.
Disorder erodes what control neighborhood residents can maintain over local
events and conditions. It drives out those for whom stable community life is
important, and discourages people with similar values from moving in. It
threatens house prices and discourages investment. In short, disorder is an
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instrument of destabilization and neighborhood decline.³⁷
ats goic
In short, concentrated disadvantage and community disorder greatly reduce
collective efficacy and, thereby, promote crime in our highest crime communities. We
can and must take action to rebuild community infrastructure and strengthen the forces of
cohesion. One simple key is to get organizations involved. Existing community
organizations can and must reach into high-crime neighborhoods, encourage civic
participation, and build a foundation of community support. 38 Furthermore, the
community can be an essential partner in helping to restore order in high-crime
communities by cleaning up areas and promoting positive activities for youth. Indeed,
these roles might be more appropriate and successful ones for citizens and organizations
than a more traditional law enforcement role. Finally, we must promote quality education
and strong economic development to overcome the concentrated disadvantage that
plagues many high-crime communities. The elements of the workplan I have proposed in
these other areas are also vital to building secure communities.
37 Wesley G. Skogan, Disorder and Decline; Crime and the Spiral Decay in American
Neighborhoods. 2-3 (1990).
38 Wesley Skogan, The Community's Role in Community Policing, in Communities:
Mobilizing Against Crime, Making Partnerships Work, U.S. Department of Justice, National
Institute of Justice Journal, 34 (August 1996).
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*
(2) Keeping Young People Out of Crime and the Criminal Justice System
After increasing dramatically for nearly a decade, juvenile crime has been
decreasing rapidly for the last few years at rates even greater than adult crime. However,
too many children are still falling prey to crime, as either offenders or victims. And kids
who commit crime are significantly more likely to become adults who commit crime.³⁹
There are nearly 3 million juvenile arrests across the nation each year, and children of
color are over represented in those arrests and at every stage in the juvenile justice
process. 40 For example, minority youth constitute approximately 32 percent of the
juvenile population, but they represent 68 percent of the juvenile population in
detention. 41 The further you go in the process, the worse the disparities look: black youth
constitute approximately 15 percent of the juvenile population, but blacks alone account
for 26 percent of juvenile arrests, 32 percent of delinquency referrals to juvenile court, 41
percent of juveniles detained in delinquency cases, 46 percent of juveniles in correctional
institutions, and 52 percent of juveniles transferred to adult criminal court after judicial
39 See Peter W. Greenwood, "Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice," in Crime, James Q.
Wilson and Joan Petersilia, eds., 98-99 (1995).
40 Id. at 17.
41 Id. at 32.
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proceedings.⁴²
In part, these figures raise serious concerns about the fairness of the juvenile
justice system, which I discuss below in the context of building fairness and trust in the
criminal justice system. But they also reflect disparities in the commission of crimes and
the need for greater efforts to keep our young people, especially young males of color, out
of crime and the criminal justice system. Once again, research suggests that racial
disparities in the commission of crimes by youth are closely tied to factors such as
concentrated poverty, family disruption, and residential instability that plague many
communities in which children of color are raised.⁴³ Controlling for those factors,
juvenile offending rates do not differ significantly by race.⁴⁴ Therefore, supporting
efforts in our highest crime communities, described above, to increase law enforcement,
enhance community policing, rebuild collective efficacy, and promote economic
development will help reduce and prevent youth crime. However, in addition to and as
part of those efforts, we must also renew our commitment to prevention and treatment
programs aimed directly at youth and young adults to ensure that our children have every
42 [OJJDP summary...]
43 Darnell F. Hawkins, John H. Laub, and Janet L. Lauritsen, "Race, Ethnicity, and
Serious Juvenile Offending," in Serious and Violent Juvenile Offenders: Risk Factors and
Successful Interventions, 39-43, Rolf Loeber and David P. Farington, eds. (1998).
44 Id. at 42.
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chance to succeed in life rather than getting caught up in a life of crime.
Prevent crime by supporting young people
Several strategies show evidence of success at keeping young people out of crime
and the criminal justice system and would likely have a disproportionately positive effect
on young people of color. Implementing those strategies successfully will require the
support and participation of families, schools, and communities. At the federal level, in
1998, I was proud that we launched a Values-Based Violence Prevention Initiative to
support community-based efforts led by civic and religious organizations and designed to
target the problems facing young people, including youth violence, truancy, and gangs. I
believe these efforts show great promise, and we must do more at all levels of
government -- especially at the community level.
First, as reported in the
education section of this chapter,
Youth Crime Prevention Programs
emerging evidence shows that early
[Descriptions of Houston and Boston Efforts
focused on community-based civic efforts,
childhood and family support
forthcoming]
programs can help reduce criminal
activity years and even decades later. The Perry Preschool project in Michigan, for
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example, provided early childhood education and in-home family support for low-
income, black children ages three to five and their families. Children who participated in
the projectᵈ were found to be less than one fourth as likely to become involved in crime
by age 24 as children who did not participate in the program.⁴⁵ Similar programs have
also been found to reduce child abuse, which is a great evil in itself and a risk factor for
future child delinquency and adult criminality.⁴⁶ We must increase support for early
childhood development, family support, and quality pre-school programs to reduce
juvenile delinquency and increase educational achievement.
Second, after-school programs can help reduce delinquent activity. Data show
that juvenile crime peaks sharply at 3 p.m., just as school lets out, and remains high until
note Adminis this the haturn area
approximately 8 p.m.⁴⁷ It is during these hours of 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. that our kids are often
S.
on their own and most likely to fall prey to gangs, drugs, and/or crime. By keeping
schools open to serve children and their families during these hours, we can provide our
children with safe havens from crime, promote constructive activities, and develop
Berry of more need lode
45 J. Berrueta-Clement et al., Changed Lives: The Effects of the Perry Preschool Program
on Youths through Age 19 (1984); Lawrence Sherman, Family-Based Crime Prevention, in
Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn't, What's Promising, U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs Report prepared by the University of Maryland Department of
report
Criminology and Criminal Justice 4-10 to 4-15 (1997); James F. Short, Jr., Poverty, Ethnicity,
and Violent Crime, 1998-99 (1997); Greenwood, supra note , at 115.
46 See Sherman, supra note , at 4-1 to 4-15.
Study
47 Juvenile Offenders and Victims, supra note , 26.
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educational and other skills.
Third, many young people get into trouble because they lack adult and/or
community supervision. Mentoring programs can prevent juvenile crime by providing
that supervision and vital support. For example, a recent study of the Big Brothers and
Big Sisters of America program, which has existed for more than 90 years, found that
children participating in the program, 60 percent of whom were children of color, were
significantly less likely to use drugs or alcohol, get into fights, or skip school than kids
who did not participate in the program.⁴⁸ If we are going to prevent our young people
from getting involved in gangs and crime, more caring adults must get involved in the
lives of our young people as mentors. Community-based organizations and institutions
are often the best sources for this kind of civic investment.
Reinforce right from wrong by promoting appropriate punishments when kids
first get in trouble
Rates of criminal recidivism--repeated law-breaking--among juveniles and adults
are astounding. Data show that the majority of adult prisoners released from state prison
48 Jean Baldwin Grossman and Eileen M. Garry, Mentoring -- A Proven Delinquency
Prevention Strategy, U.S. Department of Justice Juvenile Justice Bulletin (April 1997); Sherman,
supra note , at 3-20 to 3-26.
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are rearrested within three years, and these recidivism rates are highest for persons of
color.49 For some violent juvenile and young adult offenders, arrest and incarceration are
necessary, justified, and effective. In many instances and many ways, however, we can
do more to intervene in the lives of young people who commit crimes or delinquent acts
and help them and their families turn their lives around. Once again, several strategies
have shown signs of success.
First among these strategies are youth, gun, and drug courts, as well as drug
treatment more generally. These courts provide alternative interventions for non-violent
youth offenders and offer treatment and other services as long as those offenders stay out
of further trouble. Drug courts have become particularly important, both for children and
adults. Data show that the majority of all crime is committed under the influence of
drugs, including alcohol, or to get money to buy drugs.⁵⁰ Drug courts and related
treatment strategies can help reduce recidivism by offering first-time, non-violent
offenders drug treatment, but requiring consistent drug testing and exacting immediate
sanctions for failing a drug test. There is a related challenge posed by the fact that too
many of those arrested for drug offenses never get the treatment that makes it more likely
that they will overcome their addictions. Most people on probation, parole, or in prison
49 [BJS data summary, 22.]
50
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have some form of drug history, but we have not done enough to reduce their drug use
and the criminal behavior it often provokes. That's a self-defeating approach to fighting
crime, and we must do better.
Second, programs that promote what is called "restorative justice" can help reduce
repeat offending. Restorative justice holds youth offenders responsible for their
delinquent acts to both their victims and communities. Delinquent youth are required to
make restitution and perform community service, but they are also given adult mentoring
and employment training. Studies indicate that such programs can reduce recidivism and
strengthen community values.⁵¹ In addition, both offenders and victims who participate
in restorative justice report greater respect for the criminal justice system, which also
reduces criminal offending.⁵²
I
t's not enough to just hope that families, and perhaps churches and schools,
will keep youngsters on the right path, or "straighten them out" if things go
wrong. Wishing that things would be like they were in some idealized past seems a sorry
romantic response in communities that are struggling against all but overwhelming
problems. It takes hard work but committed people in their personal lives, and by people
51
52
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in positions of community or public leadership, to help strengthen families and
institutions to help youngsters make the right choices for their future.
Our country has a higher proportion of our people in prisons and jails than any
other democracy. While we have had important success in reducing violent crime in
recent years, it remains intolerably high, especially in our poorest communities. Taken
together, these facts are overwhelming proof that we need far more attention to
challenges of prevention and diversion, to stop criminal behavior before the seeds of
wrongdoing take root in adolescent minds. It has been said that the best social policy is a
good job. There's much truth to that, because a good job anchors a strong family and
strong families anchor a vibrant community. Yes, we must redouble our efforts to create
jobs so that no community is left behind. But meanwhile, we cannot write off children
and leave them vulnerable to crime or the seduction of criminal behavior. We cannot
build the One America we want if one in six black children born today, and one in eleven
Hispanic children, can be expected during their lives to spend time in a prison, while
white children face only a one-in-40 lifetime chance of incarceration.
*
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(3) Building Fairness and Trust in Our Criminal Justice System Across Racial Lines
There is no more fundamental tenet of our governmental system than the
entitlement of every person, inscribed in our Constitution, to equal protection under the
law. That seemingly simple notion means many things in many contexts. But at its
heart, it means that the state shall not without compelling reason treat people differently
because of such factors as race, color, or national origin. The criminal justice system is
the most powerful domestic arm of the state. It has the power to restrict individual
freedom and, in extreme cases, even to take human life. With that power comes the great
responsibility and obligation to implement our laws fairly and justly.
Today, persons of color continue to have less confidence and trust in our criminal
justice system than whites. In a recent poll, for example, a majority of blacks said they
believe that the criminal justice system is biased against them.⁵³ These perceptions are
based on a number of experiences, incidents, and policies that lead some law-abiding
persons of color to believe that they are likely to be targeted or threatened by law
enforcement for no reason other than the color of their skin.
53 Gallup Poll Monthly (1995) (cited in Randall Kennedy, Overview of Racial Trends in
the Administration of Criminal Justice, Draft paper submitted to NAS/NRC conference (1998)).
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For white Americans, it is difficult but important to fully understand what this
means. Recently, the brother of a young, black member of my staff got his driver's
license. But, as my staff member explained to me, before his brother was allowed to
drive, his parents would have to have "the talk" with him. I wasn't sure what that meant.
"The talk" in this case was that when (not if, but when) the young man is stopped by the
police for no reason other than the color of his skin, he is to hide his frustration and anger
so that an upsetting situation does not escalate into a dangerous one. Many African
Americans have dubbed this phantom crime "Driving While Black." Two United States
attorneys who are African American talked at a recent Department of Justice conference
about having similar conversations with their own children.⁵⁴ That is a talk that most
white parents do not have to have with their children. And it is a talk that no American
family should have to have.
The lack of trust and confidence in our criminal justice system among persons of
color is not only morally disconcerting, it also limits the effectiveness of law
enforcement, and may even promote crime. Recent studies show that persons are more
likely to obey the law when they believe the law and its officers are legitimate, and when
they are treated with respect. One study in Milwaukee, for example, found that persons
54 Problem Solving Group on Law Enforcement Stops and Searches, Report on the
proceedings (December 9-10, 1998).
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arrested for domestic violence who believed they were treated fairly by law enforcement
officials in their interactions were significantly less likely to commit another act of
domestic violence compared to those who believed they were treated unfairly.5 A
similar study found that persons who perceived that police treated them fairly in their
interactions (such as when they were stopped by the police for traffic offenses) were less
likely to commit minor crimes (such as parking violations or petty theft). 56 While the
studies may not put the social science question to rest, these troubling results are in a way
unsurprising. The fact is that we are all more likely to obey rules, respect authority, and
feel like members of a community when we believe that the rules are legitimate, the
authority treats us fairly, and the community respects our concerns.
We must take action to build the same levels of confidence and trust in our
criminal justice system among persons of color that other Americans have. In no small
part, this means improving relations between law enforcement and minority communities.
Community policing can play an important role here by establishing stronger lines of
communication-through community meetings, door-to-door visits, and more-and by
building partnerships between citizens and law enforcement. In addition, we must do a
55 Raymond Paternoster et al., Do Fair Procedures Matter? The Effect of Procedural
Justice on Spouse Assault, in
, 163-204 (199_).
56 Tyler, supra note , at [?]
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better job of training law enforcement officials in how to interact effectively with citizens
of all races. Finally, we must address several important and difficult issues underlying
the present racial gap in trust and confidence in our criminal justice system, including
such issues as racial profiling, police brutality, disparities in incarceration rates and
sentencing, and the lack of diversity in law enforcement. It is to those issues that I now
turn.
Restrict racial profiling
"Racial profiling" refers to the use of race, color, or ethnicity by law enforcement
as a factor in identifying criminal suspects. Several studies as well as individual cases
indicate, for example, that law enforcement officials are often more likely to stop
motorists who look black or Hispanic for traffic violations, to search black motorists for
drugs following a stop, and to question Hispanic persons about their immigration status.
Let me be clear: this is not about the use of race as the single reason for attention by
wine Talle seving
often always
police or other officials, because there is always some kind of added triggering
section
circumstance-whether it is erratic driving, being in a place where authorities have good
reason to suspect criminal activity, etc. The problem is that a reasonable person might
look at that triggering circumstance and consider it too trivial, such as a minority teenager
driving in a "white" suburb. On the other hand, the controversy isn't about the use of race
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 3, Crime
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or ethnicity as one of several identifying characteristics of a specific criminal suspect;
most of us would agree that if a robbery victim provides a good description, including
race, police should not be "color blind" in their search. Instead, the question here is,
"Should police be able to use race as a proxy for an increased risk that people of a given
racial background have engaged in or are about to engage in criminal misconduct?" For
example, a police officer sees two young men on a street corner at night engage in a very
quick transaction in which cash is exchanged for some small object that the officer thinks
may be drugs. Should the officer be any more or less inclined-or justified-in stopping
and questioning the young men if they are black or white or Hispanic or Asian Pacific
American or American Indian? What should Federal, state and local law enforcement
policy be?
Profiling is a difficult subject in part because many people focus on supposed
efficiencies and may not see immediately the great unfairness, the insult to our ideals. In
a sense, however, this is the perfect example of why perceptions about the criminal
justice system can differ so dramatically across racial and ethnic groups. If it has never
happened to you, or to someone close, you may not believe it is real, or may simply not
consider it important. But in fact, it is important to all of us because it goes to the very
57 Randall Kennedy, Race, Police, and "Reasonable Suspicion," Speech at the Department
of Justice, National Institute of Justice (1998).
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legitimacy of our system. Without fairness and trust, law enforcement will be seen as just
the raw, unaccountable power of the state. And that is a poisonous idea.
The Advisory Board on Race summarized this issue well in its final report to me:
Some in law enforcement may see racial profiling as a necessary,
legitimate practice given limited law enforcement resources and evidence
of racial disparities in criminal behavior
But racial profiling also
imposes costs on innocent persons, perpetuates and reinforces stereotypes,
creates situations that can lead to physical confrontations, and contributes
to tensions between persons of color and the criminal justice system. 58
Not only is racial profiling fueled by negative stereotypes and inconsistent with our
fundamental belief in equal protection under the law, it is also simply bad policy that
hinders effective law enforcement. As Attorney General Janet Reno said at a recent
Department of Justice sponsored conference on police stops and searches:
First, it is wrong to assume that members of one race or ethnicity
are more prone to criminal behavior than any other. Reliance on such
58 Advisory Board on Race, supra note , at 82.
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racial stereotypes is as wrong in law enforcement as it is in other
endeavors. This includes situations where law enforcement officers
improperly use race to target individuals for a traffic stop, a pedestrian
stop or a request for consent to search, in the absence of information about
a specific suspect or other special characteristics.
[In addition,] there are many points throughout the criminal justice
system where discretion plays a role-from the investigation stage, to arrest, to
the charging stage, to sentencing. Race-neutral policies at all of these stages are
essential to sound and credible law enforcement and the fair administration of
justice.
It is incumbent on law enforcement to critically review our efforts to
ensure that stereotypes and prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious, do not
creep into the work that we do. All citizens must respect the law, but the law
must also respect all of our citizens.⁵⁹
59 Attorney General Janet Reno, Remarks at "Race, Crime, and the Administration of
Justice," Advisory Board Meeting, The President's Initiative on Race, Washington, DC (May 19,
1998).
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Executive Order on Racial Profiling
I agree with the Attorney
The Federal executive order will include:
General. I don't consider
A general prohibition against the use of
enforcement and fairness as
race or ethnicity by federal law
enforcement officers;
Authority for cabinet officers to grant
inconsistent goals. They are
limited exceptions, based on specific
justification offered by an enforcement
complementary. Without the trust
agency, and disclosed to the general
public;
of the community in which the
Any exception would require a showing
that there are no reasonable alternative
police operate, our law
enforcement strategies, and would be
accompanied by thorough data collection,
enforcement efforts simply cannot
training, and monitoring;
be effective. And the subject of
Periodic evaluation of the implementation
of this policy.
racial profiling, as I know you are
all aware, is one that has
galvanized many communities. The perception that law enforcement stops are biased has
a corrosive effect on our ability to protect and to serve the very communities where
effective law enforcement is often most needed.
I believe that to achieve our vision of One America with community security and
community faith in law enforcement, all levels of government must take this issue head
on. First, we must promote greater training for law enforcement officers on how to avoid
basing their actions on improper racial stereotypes and how to interact fairly and
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constructively with citizens of all races in ways that de-escalate situations and build trust.
The Department of Justice is working on this at the national level, and many local
jurisdictions have already tackled this challenge.
Second, we must improve data collection so that we know the extent to which
persons of color are being inappropriately targeted by law enforcement and can take steps
to restrict such actions. (Congressman John Conyers is preparing legislation to
accomplish this, which I support. 60 Indeed, the legislation should be broadened to ensure
we have adequate data to monitor several aspects of fairness in the administration of
justice.)
Third, we must use the full force of our civil rights law enforcement agencies to
correct situations in which persons of color are being inappropriately targeted by law
enforcement. Specifically, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department
investigates the most serious allegations of this sort; I believe this work is vital to public
confidence in the criminal justice system, and needs the ongoing support of U.S.
attorneys as well as state and local officials.
60 [Cite to Conyers legislation on data collection on race and administration of justice.]
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Finally, we should encourage all levels of law enforcement to develop and explain
clear policies concerning racial profiling. Both our officers and the general public
deserve that. At the federal level, I have instructed the Attorney General to prepare an
Executive Order for my signature that will establish policy throughout all of federal law
enforcement, and provide an example to state and local jurisdictions that have no policy.
That order will prohibit the use of race or ethnicity as a factor for general screening of the
population in all contexts, with one limited exception. I want to leave law enforcement
officials with the possibility of making a special case for the use of race or ethnicity, but
only by providing a detailed public justification and instituting reliable mechanisms to
collect data and monitor their practice to detect and correct any abuses. Any exceptions
would have to be specifically approved by the responsible Cabinet Officer, and would
require periodic reconsideration.
I believe this strong presumption against any use of race or ethnicity is consistent
with our values, and with a vision of One America in which we build diverse
communities, replacing stereotypes with trust. But I want to leave the door open just a
crack for the possibility of extraordinary justifications. For example, the career
professionals at the Immigration and Naturalization Service believe there are some
situations close to the southwest border in which the problem of illegal crossings and
alien smuggling is so serious that the Border Patrol must do some "random" car stops,
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and there is no reasonable alternative to using apparent ethnicity as one of several factors
in their selection of cars to stop. Although this procedure is constitutionally permissible,
none of us should feel comfortable with it. Inevitably, citizens and lawful residents will
be stopped, largely because of the way they look. They are made to pay a cost for the
border security we all want. We should not ignore that cost. Instead, we should insist that
their impositions (on our behalf), as policy, are very carefully justified by their true
contribution to law enforcement and the absence of alternative strategies. That means
careful data collection. And it means the policy must be monitored to minimize abuses. I
have asked the Attorney General to address thoroughly all of these concerns.
Eliminate police brutality
No issue looms larger than the issue of police brutality. We all know many of the
most egregious incidents, from Rodney King to Abner Louima to Amadou Diallo. We
have all read the headlines: "New York Police Officer Accused of Brutalizing Haitian
Immigrant." We have also lived through the community violence and racial unrest that
such incidents can spark. But what we must understand is that to many persons of color,
incidents of police brutality are more than just discrete, horrific acts; they are seen as
harbingers of what could happen to them if they are caught in the wrong place at the
wrong time with the "wrong" kind of officer. That lack of trust is a reality, and it is
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corrosive.
But there is another reality. Most police officers are, quite simply, heroes who do
an extremely difficult job with fairness, honor, and skill. Furthermore, most officers
abhor the improper use of force because it hurts their legitimacy, makes their jobs more
difficult and, most importantly, is inconsistent with their responsibility to enforce the law.
When we take action against police misconduct, we are not taking action against our law
enforcement officers, we are taking action to support good law enforcement and to
protect all citizens from crime. Simply put, police brutality is a violent crime made more
vile by the fact that it is committed under the supposed authority of the state, by servants
of the community, and sometimes appears, when it does occur, to be motivated by racial
or ethnic prejudice.
I want to make two points here: First, we know too little about police use of
excessive force. As of 1994, federal law requires the U.S. Department of Justice to
collect and analyze data on excessive use of force. A preliminary report, for example,
suggests that police use of force against anyone is infrequent-occurring in
approximately one percent of police-citizen encounters-but that a disproportionate
number of these incidents involve persons of color.⁶¹ This preliminary study is very
61 U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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limited, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics is conducting a more comprehensive analysis.
What is clear is that all levels of government can do a much better job monitoring police
use of force and communicating to police and citizens that excessive use of force is
unacceptable and will be punished. That is what both professionalism and fairness
require.
But, second, apart from the need for better monitoring and information, we must
acknowledge that excessive use of force against persons of color still occurs. There are
just too many examples, some horrific, to ignore the problem. Later in this book, I will
challenge communities across the nation to formulate workplans to help achieve their
vision of a healed, "opportunity community" in a just One America. I believe that any
such community workplan must include a determined effort to root out police brutality
and punish those who commit it.
I pledge whatever advice and assistance the experience and resources of the
federal government can offer, because police brutality is destructive of the trust so
essential to community law enforcement. We know some of what works. Police leaders
have found certain training to be helpful, including how to communicate across racial
lines, how to de-escalate situations, and how to use force only in appropriate
circumstances and in appropriate ways. It helps to have clear mechanisms for dealing
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with allegations of excessive use of force that include clear chains of management and
independent review. And finally, federal and state prosecutors must be prepared to
combat brutality through appropriate enforcement actions, because these are crimes in
which the victims include the community and justice itself.
Reduce disparities in incarceration rates and sentencing
While persons of color make up less than one-third of our nation's population,
they make up more than two-thirds of the state and federal prison populations. 62 Blacks
account for 43 percent of arrests, 54 percent of convictions, and 59 percent of prison
admissions for violent crime. 63 Moreover, America has a greater percentage of its
citizens behind bars than any other nation in the world,f except Russia. 64 These rates of
imprisonment and racial disparities are disconcerting regardless of the cause and, as I
have argued, we must take bolder steps to prevent crime and recidivism. However, in
terms of fairness in the administration of justice, the key question is to what extent are
present disparities caused by discrimination in the administration of justice. Most of us
believe that discrimination is a very small factor, but some of our citizens feel otherwise.
62
63 Changing America, supra note , at 57, Chart 5.
64 [We are re-checking this.]
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Still more of us believe that, even if there is not discrimination, there is some subtle role
of racial difference and color that has stacked the deck.
The answer to the question of whether there is discrimination in the
administration of justice should not be, "We don't know there is discrimination." The
answer must be, "We know there is not discrimination, and we have processes in place to
ensure that." Clearly, we're not there yet.
Having said that, the best available evidence indicates that most of the existing
disparities in the administration of justice-from arrest through sentencing-are not due
to discrimination, but are primarily due to underlying disparities in the commission of
crimes: once the crime is committed, the rates of arrest, conviction and imprisonment do
not seem to differ significantly by race. For example, a recent analysis by the U.S.
General Accounting Office (GAO) compared racial differences in arrest rates for several
violent crimes to data from a national survey of crime victims concerning the race of their
assailants. GAO found no significant difference between the two, suggesting that
controlling for criminal offending, arrest rates do not differ significantly by race.⁶⁵ In
addition, a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics tracked
65 See letter from Laurie E. Ekstrand, Associate Director, Administration of Justice Issues,
General Accounting Office to the Honorable John Conyers (January 20, 1984).
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more than 10,000 adult, felony defendants in the nation's 75 largest cities through all
stages of the criminal justice process. The study, which focused on black and white
defendants, found that the defendants were equally likely to be prosecuted and convicted,
and received the same sentence regardless of race. 66
Finally, there are a few key areas in which disparities in the administration of
justice raise immediate, greater concerns of discrimination. Racial disparities in drug
arrests and sentencing are dramatic. In part, this is an unintended consequence of the war
on drugs. Let me be clear: I believe that drugs, drug use, and especially drug trafficking
should be unlawful and subject to punishment. Drugs destroy individuals, families, and
communities, and threaten the strength of our nation. However, we cannot ignore the
disproportionate impact that drug laws and enforcement have had on persons of color in
America. Blacks, for example, are approximately five times more likely than whites to
be arrested for drug-related offenses. 67
The war on drugs is a war for our communities and children, not a war against
66 See Patrick A. Langan, No Racism in the Justice System, in The Public Interest 48 (Fall
1994) (The study did find that blacks were more likely than whites to receive a prison sentence
(though prison sentences were or equal length); however, that disparity appears to be explained
largely by factors other than race. Id. at 50-51.)
67 Patrick A. Langan, The Racial Disparity in U.S. Drug Arrests, U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (October 1, 1995).
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them. That is why I have urged increases in support for prevention and treatment. This
also means making sure kids get the message on drugs, and we have launched at the
federal level a $200 million anti-drug media campaign to promote that message.
However, this also means revising drug policies and practices that have an unjustified
negative impact on persons of color. Chief among these is the present gap in sentencing
for crack versus powder cocaine. Under present federal law, possession of 5 grams of
crack cocaine triggers a 5-year mandatory minimum sentence, the same sentence imposed
for possessing 500 grams of powder cocaine, a 100:1 ratio. Black defendants comprise
86 percent of those convicted in federal court of crack cocaine offenses, compared with
35 percent of those convicted of powder cocaine offenses.⁶⁸ There are some legitimate
justifications for treating crack cocaine offenses more harshly than powder cocaine
offenses, but, as the Advisory Board on Race said in its final report, the disparate racial
effect of the present policy and the racial division it engenders make the present 100:1
ratio "morally and intellectually indefensible." I believe we should, in effect, lower the
sentence for crack cocaine while raising the sentence for powder cocaine to reduce the
present sentencing disparity to 10:1 and, thereby, reduce the reality and perception of
unfairness.
Second, racial disparities in the juvenile justice system are even greater than in the
68
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adult system and less clearly explained by legitimate factors. [There is a major DOJ
initiative here under OJJDP requiring states to reduce disproportionate minority
confinement of juveniles. But most plans appear to pursue this as a disparity issue,
promoting better prevention programs for minority youth. We are still exploring this, but
will discuss it either here or as part of the section on keeping youth out of crime and the
administration of justice.]
Increase diversity in law enforcement
Police and prosecutors, judges and jurors, are officers of our society empowered
on behalf of all of us to enforce the laws and serve us all. Quite simply, they are likely to
receive greater trust and confidence when all persons in society see themselves reflected
in those officers. When it comes to diversity in law enforcement, we are, to some extent,
caught in an unfortunate cycle. Increasing minority representation in law enforcement
would likely increase trust in law enforcement among citizens of color. But the lack of
trust and confidence in law enforcement among persons of color likely makes it more
difficult to attract minority law enforcement officers.
We have made some important gains in diversifying law enforcement. In 1993,
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persons of color comprised 18 percent of all police officers in local police and sheriff's
departments across the nation and 30 percent of all officers in larger cities. Since that
time, our COPS initiative has helped fund nearly 100,000 additional police officers in
communities across the nation. And one goal of that initiative has been to increase
diversity in law enforcement. Furthermore, I am proud that, as President, I have
appointed several minorities to some of the country's top law enforcement posts and
appointed more persons of color as federal judges than any other President in our nation's
history. We must continue this progress at all levels of government and in all segments of
the criminal justice system.
***
D. CONCLUSION
All that we have talked about-ensuring public safety, keeping young people out
of crime, and guaranteeing fairness in the administration of justice-is crucial to
building One America. We can no longer ignore the crime and fear of crime that
threatens some of our American communities and too many of our fellow citizens. Nor
can we ignore the frustrations of many Americans of color who too often experience
injustices at the hands of our criminal justice system.
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But I do not think you can talk about crime in America, especially the
proliferation of crime and violence among young people of color in deeply poor
communities, without talking about the values and the lessons we teach our young
people. A child's world view-whether positive or negative-is formed early in life,
not only by the love or lack of love we show them, but also by the investments we
make or don't make in their futures, the values and images we present them through
the media, and the opportunity or lack of opportunity that surrounds them. We cannot
be satisfied when some states spend more on prisons than education, or when America,
the land of the free, has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. Doesn't it
make more sense to invest in our children at the front end of their lives-in education,
in prevention, in strong communities-than to pay at the back end by building more
and stronger prisons in which to warehouse them? We cannot talk about race and
crime in America without talking about our commitment, as parents and as a nation, to
embrace all children as our own and to give them something to say yes to.
***
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[Editorial Endnotes on Crime]
a.
This statement must be coordinated with decision on INS/Border Patrol use of profiling.
b. What role? Retail distributor? Courier?
c. I removed "including crack cocaine" because I recall reports that crack use has stabilized, not
declined. please check.
d. [We will check on the status of this project?]
e. Describe a current DOJ Civil Rights Division case on this issue, in human terms.
f. Please reconfirm with DOJ. There have press accounts that say, highest among democracies, or
highest among industrialized nations. Would seem like Russia counts under either of those
categories.
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PART III: THE OPPORTUNITY WE DESERVE
[Introduction to Part III]
[Sections 1-3]
4. A RENEWED COMMITMENT TO CIVIL RIGHTS
A. INTRODUCTION
On a hot August day in 1963, the civil rights movement in America reached a
watershed moment when hundreds of thousands of citizens of all colors joined in the
famous March on Washington. As a 17-year-old boy growing up in the rural South, I was
inspired by the determination of those who boarded buses and organized car-pool
caravans, some traveling thousands of miles, intent on redeeming the unfulfilled promise
of America. "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and Declaration of Independence," said Martin Luther King, Jr. at our
memorial to The Great Emancipator, "they were signing a promissory note to which
every American was to fall heir We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in
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the great vaults of opportunity in this nation."
The vision of the peaceful warriors of that time has moved us further down
freedom's trail and much closer to our ideal of One America. In a twenty-year period, we
built the indispensable legal foundation for our progress on issues of equality and
opportunity, including such legislation as the Civil Rights Acts of 1964¹ and 1968,2 the
Voting Rights Act of 1965,³ as well as landmark court cases such as Brown V. Board of
Education⁴ (striking a mortal blow at "separate-but-equal" Jim Crow laws) and Griggs v.
Duke Power Co.⁵ (establishing the practical effectiveness of the antidiscrimination
statutes laws). And while I have said that civil rights for a new century must include the
rights to educational and economic opportunity as well as community security, we cannot
move forward without addressing continuing civil wrongs rooted in continuing
discrimination.
Although the finish line remains some distance away, in the last several decades,
we have made great strides in prohibiting discrimination in the law. We have also built a
strong national consensus around the belief that all Americans should have equal access
to opportunities without regard to race. As a result, much of the overt racial prejudice
and hatred that has plagued our nation for centuries has been dramatically reduced. As
the Advisory Board on Race said in its final report, "Those who argue that there has been
no change. and that racism is an unchanging fixture in American life are, in our
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observation, incorrect."6
Yet, more covert and subtle impediments to our goal of equal opportunity persist.
Today, discrimination often occurs beneath the surface and is difficult to see. As I stated
in The America We See, we do not have all the answers about the nature and extent of
discrimination in America, and we need to do a better job of collecting and analyzing
data. But based on what we now know, it is clear that discrimination is still an
unfortunate fact of life in America.
My Advisory Board made this prescient observation: "[N]ow, more than ever,
racial discrimination is not only about skin color and other physical characteristics
associated with race; it is also about other aspects of our identity, such as ethnicity,
national origin, language, accent, religion, and cultural customs." Still, some might ask
why, in an era of relative racial calm, without streets erupting in racial unrest, do we need
a renewed focus on civil rights law enforcement. To me, and many other Americans, the
answer is clear. While overt racial prejudice has diminished, the discrimination of today
is often more camouflaged. In a sense, this makes it more dangerous: If you are denied a
job, apartment, or prompt service in a store on the basis of bigotry that is never expressed,
and even cloaked in politeness, then you have no signal telling you to object, to fight. In
order to build One America, to finish the work that we have started, it is vitally important
that all Americans understand that discrimination -- intentional or not, obvious or
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camouflaged -- still exists and that each of us has the opportunity and responsibility to
help eradicate it. This is about more than enforcing laws. It is about living up to our
values and keeping our promises.
L
et me offer three recommendations, which in turn are the focus for the
workplan I propose for the nation in this arena:
We need to strengthen our laws and enforcement strategies to complete the
traditional antidiscrimination agenda;
We need to define an enforcement agenda to meet the new challenges of
racial and ethnic justice; and
We need to prevent law violations by fundamentally reducing racial
tensions and promoting reconciliation.
Let me elaborate. First, we must have strong civil rights enforcement because our
basic antidiscrimination laws and principles are still violated far too often. There are still
too many instances of hate crimes, too many times when people of color face
discrimination in stores and other retail establishments, and too many people waiting for
an administrative agency or a court to deal with their discrimination complaint about
matters as fundamental as a job or a place to live. Our civil rights laws cannot be slogans
about justice. They are tools with which to build justice, and we must use them more
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skillfully than ever. In many areas, we should consider new enforcement approaches,
such as more support for voluntary compliance, or for mediation of disputes. Essentially,
the goal of local, state and federal enforcement of antidiscrimination laws should be
simple: remedy discrimination wherever we find it, and protect against it everywhere.
Second, as we tackle this traditional antidiscrimination agenda, we must begin to
focus on the new civil rights I have spoken about by ensuring that the antidiscrimination
laws and ideals are applied effectively in such areas as education, health care, stopping
worker exploitation in sweat shops and environmental justice. Recall Dr. King's
admonition that the laws securing formal civil rights are only a foundation for erasing the
opportunity gap. Our successful work strengthening America's prosperity has helped
deepen and broaden opportunity, but it also gives us a foundation upon which to build,
and again, the antidiscrimination laws are one tool in that effort.
Finally, we must give individuals and communities the tools they need to make
effective civil rights a reality at the local level. The federal government, through such
efforts as the Justice Department's Community Relations Services, can be a partner in
easing racial tensions, and should have an expanded mission to help support sustained
local action directed at reconciliation. But I also believe we can have prevention and
progress of an even more fundamental sort by working with students to teach them the
history, meaning and purposes of our civil rights laws. After all, that's one of the best
ways to teach them about the America we want.
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24, 1999
***
B. CENTERPIECE OF THE FEDERAL WORKPLAN:
STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS AND A STRENGTHENED ENFORCEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE
With our unprecedented economic strength, it is all the more intolerable that there
are still doors to opportunity that are padlocked by prejudice. The simple business of
enforcing antidiscrimination laws should be a bipartisan commitment. Very few of the
1.
existing
specific laws are controversial, so we should be able to agree on at least this much:
enforce the law, and promote voluntary compliance with it.
That is why I have proposed substantial new investments to strengthen civil rights
enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels. Although money by itself will not
achieve our civil rights goals, a strong enforcement agenda depends on a sufficient level
of resources. For the 1999 budget year, I proposed and Congress enacted the largest
increase in funding for civil rights enforcement in nearly two decades. I am committed to
continuing this progress, and have therefore proposed a second round of investments for
the 2000 budget, bringing the two-year increase to 28% percent.⁸ (See text box)
Both now and in the years ahead, however, the federal workplan must be more
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24,1999
than added resources: First, we must act strategically to put the federal investments
where they will do the most good. Second, we must continually explore fresh approaches
to winning greater compliance with the law, using tools that complement our litigation.
Third, we need better coordination among the agencies and the White House to keep
everyone focused, to share strategies, and to forge partnerships with our state, local and
private enforcement partners. And fourth, we need to hold ourselves accountable, and do
a better job of teaching the wider public about these issues. To that end, we must
establish a permanent program of ongoing data collection to provide the best achievable
measurements of the extent of discrimination in various sectors of American life. Let me
explain each of these a bit more.
Investing strategically: There are several particular areas where what we do in the
next few years can have an important effect on the national effort to build One America.
Here are some examples:
The Federal government should lead all of the nation's enforcers by working to
eliminate the unconscionable backlogs in processing discrimination complaints.
That is why we are making important new investments in the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission, while the Commission continues to streamline
operations which are complex, duplicative, and unwieldy.
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24, 1999
Civil Rights Enforcement (Budget Authority in Millions of Dollars)
1998 Actual
2000
% Change
Proposed
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
242
312
28.9%
HUD: Fair Housing Activities
30
47
56.7%
DOJ: Civil Rights Division
65
82
26.2%
DOJ: Civil Rights Enforcement Partnerships
--
5
NA
DOL: Office of Federal Contract Compliance
62
76
22.6%
Programs
DOL: Civil Rights Center
5
6
20%
Education: Office for Civil Rights
62
73
17.7%
HHS: Office of Civil Rights
20
22
10%
USDA: Civil Rights Programs
15
19
26.7%
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
9
11
22.2%
DOT: Office of Civil rights
6
8
33.3%
EPA: Office of Civil Rights
2
2
--
Subtotal:
518
663
28.0%
Similarly, people should have to look no further than Washington for leadership
in the fight against hate crimes. Our investments in the Department of Justice will
help us put the full force of federal power behind that effort.
Because a quality education is so fundamental, the Department of Education must
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24, 1999
increase its vigilance and creativity in ensuring that school districts that receive
Federal funds obey the antidiscrimination laws in their allocation of all resources
- from quality teachers to roof repairs to computers.
And, because the rapidly changing demography in many communities can create
new enforcement problems, the enforcement agencies must make sure that their
caseloads reflect the new realities. For example, there may be housing
discrimination against a new population of Asian immigrants in a Midwest city,
or language discrimination against Hispanics in a Southern community more
accustomed to black-white issues.
There are other examples, but the principle is simple: if we can't solve every
problem, we have to make the enforcement choices most likely to bring about systemic
improvements leading to One America. That also means trying new approaches.
New approaches: Like other federal activities, civil rights law enforcement has to
be conducted within a framework of fiscal discipline and competing national priorities. It
is increasingly important to use the best social science evidence we can to help target
investigations and enforcement where our actions will have the greatest impact on
opportunity and on the public's understanding of racial and ethnic justice. For example,
the kind of matched-pair testing I described earlier as one tool for detecting
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24,1999
discrimination, can help agencies identify regions or sectors where problems are most
severe. Federal enforcers can identify and develop the best practices of this sort and
share them with their state and local colleagues.
But enforcement is a last resort, because the laws will be most effective when
Important
point
voluntary compliance is highest. Part of our civil rights success is that most Americans
put higher -
now embrace the principle of nondiscrimination. We can make even greater strides by
at of section beginning
helping people of good will understand how to evaluate their own practices and avoid
even inadvertent actions that are unfair and perhaps illegal. Several federal agencies have
taken important steps to promote voluntary compliance, and this effort will be
increasingly critical in the years ahead. For example, the EEOC will provide employers
across the country with the tools to evaluate and improve their pay policies, so that they
may voluntarily make their employment practices fairer. I should also say that
straightforward advice about what the law requires, delivered professionally by
enforcement authorities, will be an antidote to the swirl of misinformation that too often
confuses the public about what is or is not lawful, especially concerning affirmative
action.
Finally, being smart with federal investments means recognizing that enforcing
the antidiscrimination laws is a responsibility we share with other levels of government. I
have proposed to Congress that the Justice Department award competitive grants to state
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24,1999
attorneys general - a Civil Rights Enforcement Partnership - to help demonstrate
effective strategies. Just as we have tried to use federal resources to support states and
localities in their fight against crime, we should do more to support their fight against
discrimination.
Improved coordination: Earlier in my Administration I issued a directive
establishing an interagency working group on civil rights enforcement. That collaboration
has been valuable, but I believe we can do more. I have now instructed my White House
chief of staff to convene on a regular basis a senior working group on civil rights
enforcement to be composed of both cabinet and subcabinet officials. I expect this group
to do four things. First, to review and resolve any policy issues that are languishing in the
bureaucracy. Second, to ensure that enforcement agencies are working cooperatively and
sharing insights and resources as appropriate. Third, to establish effective avenues of
communication with those outside the federal government concerned with civil rights
enforcement issues. And finally, to give me a written report every month. In addition to
consultations with state and local enforcement authorities, this group will also seek input
from public interest organizations, both liberal and conservative, who may want to offer
suggestions about how to improve our performance. At the agency level, the Civil Rights
Division of the Justice Department will continue to be "first among equals" in the effort
to bring coherence to the varied work of federal enforcers, and will be strengthened in
that role by the increased resources in my proposed budget. As a down payment on this
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Part III, Opportunity: Section 4, Civil Rights Enforcement
March 24, 1999
aspect of the federal workplan, I have budgeted $65 million for the Justice Department's
Civil Rights Division -- a 19-percent increase over last year and the largest increase in
nine years.
Measuring discrimination: All of these efforts, however, must be tied to results,
because if today's enforcement tools and methods can't get the job done, we must find
better ones. Moreover, the confused public discussion of where we are on race cries out
for better information. The sad fact is that we know much more about how we are doing
or
at producing soybeans and machine tools, and how.many television sets are in use on
Tuesday at 9:00 p.m., than we do about how much discrimination there is in such areas as
housing, employment, ordinary dealings in a retail store, access to insurance or a bank
loan, fair expectations for a child from his or her teachers, and fair treatment when a
health professional prescribes a medical procedure (or doesn't). This must change.
My workplan requires a renewed commitment to change, and we need
information to gauge our progress, focus our investments and continually improve our
strategies in the years ahead. I believe the Federal government should take the lead,
working closely with the best researchers, in developing a consensus set of social science
tools to measure discrimination and publish a regular report card on how America is
doing. I have asked Congress for the funds to launch this effort, building on valuable
research over the years at several agencies, especially HUD. I envision this as a
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