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Jose,
September 4, 1998
To:
Colleagues and Comrades
Through:
Phil Caplan
Staff Secretary
From:
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law
RE:
Draft Memorandum on the President's Race Report: Background
As most of you know, we are scheduled to give the President by September 10th the first of
several memos on the evolving content of his report to the nation on race - a.k.a., the race book.
The attached draft still has some holes, but I wanted to make it available for the weekend.
I am especially interested in reactions to the "workplan" elements that are outlined. These ideas
reflect a lot of conversations and meetings with NEC, DPC, OMB and WH Counsel staff - -
though not as many as we would have liked, due to vacation schedules. As the memorandum
indicates, this is an evolving process, and more specificity about the themes, options and
program details must come over the next two months.
Maria Echaveste has called a meeting for Tuesday at 4 p.m. to collect and discuss reactions to
this draft. I and the team working with me would be delighted to hear from people before or after
then. In particular, the following contacts are good for providing your reactions:
Christopher Edley ([email protected]; pager 1-800-864-8444, pin 182-9507);
Michele Cavataio, John Goering, Scott Palmer, PIR
Principal contacts with whom we are working:
DPC
Kagan, Weinstein, Cerda, Cohen, Orzag, Fernandes
NEC
Sperling, Kaplan, Rouse, Parker, Shireman
Counsel
Ruff, Correia
OMB
Mathews, Gotbaum, Deich, Wachino, Barry White, Redburn
OPL
Moore
IGA
Ibarra, Cutler
Communications
Lewis, Blumenthal, Waldman
CEA
Blank
Other
Echaveste, Begala
Draft v6
September 9, 1998
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
From:
Christopher Edley, Jr.
Professor of Law
Through:
Maria Echaveste
Deputy Chief of Staff
Re:
Progress Report on the Race Book, and Request for Interim Guidance
This memorandum is organized in the following sections:
I.
Introduction, process and organization of the effort
II.
The Vision (book chapter 2), and basic themes
III.
The Workplan (book chapter 6)
IV.
Leadership (book chapter 7)
V.
Next steps, and summary of decisions requested
I. INTRODUCTION, PROCESS AND ORGANIZATION OF THE EFFORT
The purpose of this memorandum is to review our progress, confirm our general direction, and
solicit interim guidance on a few substantive matters. Most important, Part II is a first attempt to
sketch your "vision" of One America with racial justice and equal opportunity in the 21st century.
Then, Part III adds some flesh to key portions of the "workplan" chapter outline you have already
seen, offering a partial menu of ideas.¹ We want to know if this conceptual framework makes
'The current detailed (and daunting) outline of the book is at Tab A. The chapter outline is:
Introduction:
One America in the 21st Century
Chapter 1:
Where Is America On Race, And Where Are We Going?
Chapter 2:
More Than A Dream: Racial And Ethnic Justice In The 21" Century
Chapter 3:
Wrestling Lessons: Honest, Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing Differences
Chapter 4:
Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People Across Lines Of Class And
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.l
sense, and if we are heading for the right mix of bold and pedestrian, thematic and programmatic.
White House policy staff are fully engaged and have both contributed to this workplan material
and reviewed this memorandum. Important disagreements and special concurrences are noted in
this document or accompanying memoranda.
We hope to complete the workplan menu within two weeks and, based on your tentative approval
of several ideas, proceed with more detailed policy development between now and early
November. This is key: I want these first stages of developing the workplan to emphasize
thoughtfulness and boldness in the selection of the challenges, goals, themes and general
strategies, connecting those to the vision. The next step, for greater detail over the next two
months, is to figure out more concretely what ought to be done by whom (federal government?
parents?). Throughout, Maria Echaveste will ensure that the interests of the policy councils are
well regarded, that the formal clearance process is used when appropriate, and that I can appeal
to you with any conflicts we cannot resolve in a timely way.
We have four working groups to help prepare the policy, or "workplan" chapter. These are co-led
by the appropriate NEC or DPC staff and me. As yet, they do not span the entire range of
subjects you may want to cover, but they are a good start:
Education
Economic Development and Employment Opportunity
Criminal Justice and Community Security
Civil Rights Enforcement
We also have less elaborate collaborative discussions moving forward on: Health, Strengthening
Families, Native Americans, and Democracy/Civic Engagement. The "book team" includes a
handful of PIR staff, and the addition soon of Terry Edmonds. I'm confident that several White
House and OMB staff will also play critical roles, as they have in preparation of this document.
Outreach: Finally, Maria has assigned Minyon Moore and OPL the overall responsibility for
coordinating external consultations by the outreach offices and, through Cabinet Affairs,
conversations with key appointees in the agencies. Throughout September, many members of
your staff will be making calls or conducting meetings with some 400 individuals, asking about
the proposed framework for your report, the most important actions you should take after the
Advisory Board's work, and any elements they think it is especially important for you to
communicate in your report. We will share some of the substantive responses with you, but all of
them will be weighed by the book team.
Color, Creating Community And Opportunity
Chapter 5:
The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
Chapter 6:
A Workplan For Our Nation
Chapter 7:
Leadership For One America
Chapter 8:
Conclusion
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.2
II. THE VISION CHAPTER, AND BASIC THEMES
This section summarizes my best sense of your central vision for the book -- chapter 2 in the
current outline. It builds on earlier material sent to you by Sidney Blumenthal and by me, as well
as previous statements by you. In the book, the vision discussion will be preceded by an
introduction and by the chapter describing where America has been and is on race, including
demographics, discrimination, disparities, and intergroup relations. While not yet in your
language, what follows is an effort to capture the key ideas and their interrelationships. At the
end of the section, we also want to engage you on some cross-cutting questions, such as the role
of government.
(a)
Why is this subject so important for us to tackle?
Renewing America for the new century: For six years, I have worked to prepare America
for the challenges of the 21st century. We have put our fiscal house in order, taken
important steps to strengthen the international economic system, worked at home and
abroad to create a post-cold war national security framework, launched an investment
program in vital areas of education, training, new technologies and environmental
protection. One additional area, without which we cannot succeed in the decades ahead, is
overcoming the divisions of race and ethnicity so that we can be One America, united in a
web of mutuality that gives us the strength to be our best as individuals, as communities
and as a nation.
Global and historical context: The difficulty of the problem is evident not only from our
own national history, but from events around the world - even today. The conflict is
commonplace, as differences give rise to hatreds and then bloodshed. As President, I've
seen it over and over again, and struggled to find ways that, through our actions and
example, this nation could help troubled societies see their shared humanity and find
peace. But make no mistake: This struggle to build peace and strength out of differences
is a struggle against deep failings and sinfulness that seem inherent in the human spirit. In
my own religious tradition, sin can be overcome through struggle and faith, and it is a
never-ending struggle. We should expect no easier a task when it comes to dealing with
our differences here in America.
The stakes: On a more practical plane, making diversity a source of strength rather than
division promises great rewards in social peace and home and economic success globally.
New complexity: The civil rights movement of three and four decades ago was largely
framed in black and white, but led to bursts of energy and progress for other minorities
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.3
and for women. Today's diversity gives us great opportunities, but also more complex
challenges.
Cause for confidence: There is cause for confidence, because our ideals and values are far
more than words locked behind glass in the National Archives. They are an incandescent
beacon for peoples worldwide, and the lodestar by which we chart our own course and
criticize our missteps. Our noblest moments and wisest leaders are marked not by the
exploitation of difference, but by recalling us to the commitments of equality, tolerance,
opportunity and justice. In my life, I have seen this most profoundly in the struggle
against racial segregation and bigotry. No nation matches our capacity for moral
greatness.
(b)
What would it mean to have a full measure of racial justice and opportunity in
America? What would our relationships be like, and what would society look like?
Vision of community: [Celebration of our diversity, not mere tolerance of our differences;
building inclusive communities and organizations to take advantage of the benefits and
strengths that flow from diversity. (Examples from forums, correspondence, etc.)]
"One America" does not mean that we lose our ethnic identities, becoming some
homogenized undifferentiated mass. We can be proud of our cultural identities and
distinctiveness, and at the same time be proud of and loyal to America - indeed, that is
one of the most important elements of our nation's greatness.
In religion, for example, scholars tell us that we are the most observant of developed
nations, and that freedom of religion and separation of church and state are important
parts of the explanation. We are a nation full of religious individuals, yet we do not all
worship in the same way. Indeed, our civic values are that we tolerate and respect
different religious traditions, and celebrate the legal and civic values that make diversity
possible. We are proud of that diversity, and together with tolerance, recognize it as a
defining greatness of America. And much of the rest of the world recognizes this too.
So, too, with our racial and ethnic diversity. Our greatness in the decades ahead depends
not merely on overcoming prejudice and bigotry rooted in our differences, and not only in
tolerating differences. We must instead celebrate those differences as a source of richness
and strength. Our personal lives are enriched by this diversity, and our society and
economy are strengthened by it.
In the community of America, the things that connect us must be stronger than those that
divide us. A "community" means shared interests. But we must also have a shared
concern for our collective advancement, and mutual concern for each other. Transcending
differences, while respecting them, is part of creating such a community.
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.4
So there is a delicate balance, because we have far too much to lose if we retreat into
ethnic enclaves - walled off from one another by prejudice, stereotypes or even simple
ignorance and misunderstanding. We sacrifice greatness and goodness, richness and
riches, if by circumstance or choice we separate ourselves into subcommunities along the
very fracture lines that have traced our national racial tragedies since Europeans arrived
on these shores.
Vision of opportunity: [Opportunity enjoyed so equally that there is no discernable legacy
of slavery, colonization or conquest; of Jim Crow or internment. (Examples from forums,
correspondence etc.)]
We have legacies of slavery, conquest and colonialism; of Jim Crow and racist
immigration quotas. The inheritance is evident in the patterns of our lives: the racially
isolated communities, the gaping disparities in educational achievement, employment,
criminal victimization and wealth; the still too-rare close friendships across lines of race.
This inheritance is a burden to our spirits and a tax on our prosperity. Perhaps most
tragically, for too many of our fellow citizens, the legacy has shackled dreams that are
every American's inalienable right. This is wrong, and we can do better.
One way our children and grandchildren will know when we have achieved racial justice
and opportunity is that the evidence of America's legacy of inequality will be found only
in history books, and not in brutal social and economic disparities surrounding them.
Vision of responsibility: Responsibilities of citizenship; responsibility to reach out to
others; responsibility of each of to combat whatever stereotypes and fears we may have;
and responsibility to take advantage of opportunities. (Examples from forums, letters,
etc.) We must do this for our children and their children. We must do this to honor those
who have sacrificed over the generations in earlier battles, including civil rights battles, to
put our sacred civic values into practice. And I believe we must do this to honor the God
who has created us all equal, and blessed our nation in so many countless ways.
(c)
Why is this vision preferable to alternative, competing visions?
Why embracing "equal opportunity" is necessary, but insufficient alone to produce a full
measure of justice and fairness in One America.
Why color blindness makes sense, and why it doesn't.
Why assimilation as Americans is important, but not an assimilation that seeks to erase
our diverse identities. Is tolerance of differences sufficient, or must there be more?
**
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.5
III. THE WORKPLAN CHAPTER
The purpose of this chapter is to explain the most important steps the nation must take over the
next decade in pursuit of your vision of racial justice and opportunity, as described earlier in the
book. As with the promising practices chapter, you want to provide inspiring "news you can use"
to people in communities and organizations across the nation who are looking for ideas. The
workplan is organized by policy sectors, and within each sector it will contain federal, state,
local, private and personal elements. This is not just about the federal government, or
government generally. Few items will have FY 2000 budget impacts, although several will have
"down payments" in Administration accomplishments and earlier proposals. (The ideas which
follow reflect substantial contributions from DPC, NEC and OMB; this memorandum has been
through an accelerated clearance process. Comments from your advisors are noted in this
document or in appended memoranda.)
The book should be highly thematic, avoiding an exhaustive and mind-numbing recitation of
comprehensive programmatic details. But it must contain just enough pointed recommendations
to leave the reader with a sense that you have provided concrete direction, not just rhetoric. This
also entails being very selective - not every good idea for addressing every important problem.
In areas where thoughtfulness or clarity requires more program detail, the final document can use
textual boxes set apart from the flow of the narrative.
Two final points. The boldness you have requested in policy ideas seems in some cases to come
in the statement of a national goal ("close disparities in education achievement by X percent"),
and in other cases may not be evident until we offer specific public or private interventions to
advance the goal. Relatedly, in the stating the goals we have repeatedly between brave
aspirations and statements that are more cautious and achievable. We need your general guidance
on this.
*
§ 6.2 THE EDUCATION SECTION OF THE WORKPLAN
Apart from the economy, I assume that education will be the clear first-among-equals in your
workplan for the nation, receiving disproportionate emphasis throughout the book. Despite
improvements over the last several decades, racial disparities in opportunity and achievement
persist throughout the education pipeline, and these disparities are powerful obstacles to
achieving your vision. We've tolerated it for too long. It is wrong. Therefore, the workplan
focuses on areas of significant disparity that have the greatest impact on educational outcomes.
It also emphasizes the instrumental and ethical necessity of heightened responsibility and
accountability.
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.6
In addition, racial isolation, often in combination with poverty concentration, remains a problem
both among and within our schools, presenting barriers to achievement, excellence, and to your
vision of mutual understanding and community. This is the third pillar of the education
workplan.
- Outline of the section
Introduction/Context
Education is primary [only central?] to achieving my vision. This requires:
(1)
eliminating racial disparities in educational opportunity and achievement;
(2)
reinforcing responsibility and strengthening accountability for
administrators, teachers and students, as well as for the political
institutions governing education; and
(3)
promoting racial and economic integration in education.
These problems have long gone unsolved because they are difficult and because
race has divided us, but also because we need to reassess the roles of the different
levels of government and of the family in education. The old formulas need
revision, the old problems need new thinking, and the old values need new life.
We need to provide every family, regardless of race or zip code, with an
Education Bill of Rights.²
(a)
Close the racial gap in opportunity and achievement. Notwithstanding important
progress, significant racial disparities in achievement persist. We must close these gaps
and raise the bar for everyone. This means overcoming racial disparities in the
2 Such a Bill of Rights might include the following:
(1)
Every child shall have a parent or other adult actively engaged in his/her learning and have access to
support services to help that child achieve to his/her full potential.
(2)
Every child shall have access to early learning opportunities.
(3)
All parents have the right to send their children to equitably funded schools that are accountable for their
child's learning.
(4)
Every child shall have access to high-quality teachers.
(5)
Every child shall be held to high expectations and standards and have access to challenging curricula.
(6)
Every child shall have access to adequate facilities and modern technology.
(7)
Every LEP child shall have access to the tools necessary to help him/her learn English within three years.
(8)
Every child shall learn in a safe environment.
(9)
All parents and children shall have the right to choose to attend racially and ethnically integrated schools.
(10)
Every high school graduate shall have the financial support and opportunity to go to college.
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.7
educational opportunity available to every child - including both resources and
expectations - and simultaneously insisting on high standards for achievement. Beyond
this, we must improve our ability to make targeted, individualized efforts to ensure that
every child succeeds to his or her full potential. Among the key elements of an education
bill of rights for equal opportunity and achievement:
Parenting and early childhood: Ensure that every child has a parent or other adult
actively engaged in that child's learning, and that every young child has access to early
learning opportunities.
Teaching: Improve the quality of teacher training, ensure that high-quality teachers are
equitably distributed, and ensure that teachers promote high expectations for students of
all races.
Curriculum and standards: Ensure that every child has access to challenging curricula
tied to high standards, and that tracking does not prevent any child from achieving his or
her full potential. Students of color are often tracked into special education and out of
honors courses.
English acquisition: Guarantee each LEP child an effective opportunity to master
English, and hold students and educators accountable for success.
Infrastructure: Close the racial disparity in full access to adequate facilities and modern
technology.
Post-secondary attainment: Overcome racial disparities in high school graduation rates,
and in college participation, retention and graduation rates.
(b)
Institute greater accountability and heightened responsibility for administrators,
teachers, students and public officials. Without much stronger mechanisms for
accountability, the goals of closing disparities in opportunity and achievement are mere
aspirations, not commitments. Moreover, to break the back of inertia and complacency
we will have to design interventions that target the political, bureaucratic and
jurisdictional impediments to sustained reform. The Voluntary National Test is such an
intervention, as is public school choice, and we must build on such approaches while
providing needed safeguards against abuses.
Tests and accountability: Use the best assessment methods, including national tests, to
build broader and deeper systems that will hold administrators, teachers, and students
accountable for educational achievement. The accountability should flow "up" from
parents and "down" from Federal taxpayers and presidential leadership. The range of
tools, both carrots and sticks, should stretch from more effective parental action, to
MEMO-V6. WPD
p.8
political mobilization, to school reconstitution or receivership, to fiscal incentives - and
everything in between.
Governance and leadership: If eliminating the disparities in opportunity and achievement
require modifications of our traditional structure of roles and authority, so be it. We need
new ways to think about old problems.
(c)
Promote integration and diversity in education to enrich the learning experience for
all students. We also care about integration, so that students have the opportunity to
learn together in ways that dissolve stereotypes and improve race relations. Parents and
students should have a right to chose an integrated education. But, after a burst of
progress in the late 1960s and early 1970s, segregation in K-12 education is worsening.
For example, a recent study reports that one-third of black and Hispanic students attend
schools with more than 90 percent minority enrollment, and almost nine in 10 of those
schools are predominantly poor. High-quality integrated schools provide a more
complete educational experience for all students than high-quality segregated schools.
Conversely, ineffective, racially isolated schools in high-poverty areas present our
greatest obstacle to closing the disparities in opportunity and achievement.
Educate the public on the value of inclusion, diversity and integration -- reviving that
ideal: An inclusive community of students and educators can: improve teaching and
learning by enriching the learning environment with diverse perspectives; strengthen
students' critical-thinking skills by challenging their existing perspectives; teach students
how to interact comfortably with people different from themselves and thereby how to
function as good neighbors, colleagues and citizens in our diverse democratic society;
improve students' preparation for employment by teaching them the value of diverse
perspectives, how to function in diverse business settings, and how to communicate
effectively in our increasingly diverse domestic marketplace and the expanding global
marketplace; and foster the advancement of knowledge by spurring study in new areas of
concern.
Reduce racial segregation and isolation among schools: This is not a call for massive,
federally mandated strategies where there is no constitutional violation demanding court-
supervised remedies. Instead, parents and educators should make use of a range of
measures such as magnet schools, multidistrict transfer programs, and so forth. Most
important, we must better appreciate the important stake we have in making diversity
work in the world of our children. Schools of unquestioned excellence are the easiest to
make and keep diverse.
Reduce segregation within schools: Even in diverse schools, evidence shows that
students are often resegregated into racially homogenous classes through tracking and
other mechanisms, thereby reducing their opportunities to learn together and have
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.9
positive cross-racial interactions.
Inclusion in higher education: Promote access and diversity in higher education, and
foster the educational benefits of diversity. Mend, don't end, affirmative action. And
wherever possible, use creative race-neutral mechanisms in admissions and in the K-12
pipeline. Ensure that in sustaining the crucial role of HBCUs, HSIs, and Tribal colleges
(which are integrated) we don't "excuse" historically white institutions from the principle
of excellence-through-inclusion.
- Discussion issues on the education workplan
Are you comfortable with the three major pillars: closing the race gap in opportunity and
achievement; accountability and governance; attacking racial isolation?
Do the bulleted items capture your personal priorities? Are any high priorities missing?
Can any of them be demoted for attention in textual boxes rather than in your narrative?
Can we explore some rethinking of the federal role in order to tackle these disparities?
*
§ 6.4 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY SECURITY
From hate crimes to crack houses, from police misconduct to police hiring, from disparate
incarceration rates to racial profiling -- barely a week goes by without some aspect of crime and
criminal justice standing as a lightening rod for racial and ethnic tensions. No area is more
freighted with divisive stereotypes and misunderstanding. Yet it must be tackled with vigor
because victimization and criminality destroy communities and families, just as they fuel
alienation and division.
-- Outline of the section
Introduction/Context
Racial disparities exist in both the realities and perceptions of crime and the
administration of justice: communities of color disproportionately bear the social,
economic, and personal costs of crime, and, according to polls, have less
confidence in the fairness of the criminal justice system than do whites.
MEMO-V6. WPD
p.10
Building One America requires building a criminal justice system that serves and
treats Americans of all races fully and fairly, and thereby closes the trust gap
while making community security a right enjoyed equally.
(a)
Community Security: Eliminate racial disparities in victimization. The right to be
secure cannot be discounted by race. Every American is entitled to live in a safe
community, and the race of residents shouldn't tell us the crime rate. From 1992 to 1997,
rates of violent crime in America have decreased, but disparate victimization rates persist.
Tackling this problem directly is part of the opportunity agenda, as well as a matter of
decent fairness. The Administration's record has numerous elements, which we can build
upon and target to close the disparities.
(b)
Keep young people out of the criminal justice system, and for those who have
contact with it, make it their last. Racial minorities, especially young, black males, are
more likely than whites to be both the offenders and victims of certain crimes, including
violent crimes. Furthermore, one third of young, black men are presently under the
supervision of the criminal justice system (on probation, in prison, or on parole), and the
chance that a young, black male will go to prison during his lifetime is nearly 30%. The
realities are flatly inconsistent an American vision of racial justice and equal opportunity.
(c)
Build greater fairness and trust in the criminal system. Several past and present
factors contribute to mistrust in our criminal justice system among persons of color,
including negative interactions, disparities in the administration of justice (incarceration,
sentencing, death penalty), and lagging diversity in law enforcement (police, prosecutors,
judges, juries). Without more trust, creating safe communities is impossible, because
legitimacy, support and cooperation don't come free.
Prohibit the use of racial profiling:³ No American should be subject to disparate
application of the state's policing power because of his/her race. Statistically efficient
allocation of resources, some claim, justifies impositions on innocent persons, while
perpetuating stereotypes and contributing to tensions. Targeting based on color, without
individualized evidence, is rarely if ever fair and just.
Pursue zero tolerance for racially suspect police misconduct and brutality: While the
vast majority of police are dedicated public servants who deserve our respect and support,
several high-profile cases illustrate that incidents of police misconduct and brutality
motivated by racial animus still occur. We are deeply divided in perceptions of the
magnitude of the problem.
³Profiling will also be considered in the "Wrestling Lessons" chapter, as one of the hard questions that forces us to
think about differences in values and perceptions.
MEMO-V6. WPD
p.11
Eliminate racial discrimination and unjustified disparities in incarceration, sentencing,
and imposition of the death penalty.
Increase diversity and representation in the criminal justice system.
- Discussion issues on the criminal justice workplan
Can we speak of community safety as a "right", and the racial disparities in victimization
as flatly inconsistent with your vision? If so, are disparities a fair index of this aspect of
racial justice and opportunity?
Should we "prohibit" racial profiling, or "restrict" it?
Similarly, should we tackle disparities in rates of incarceration, presumably with targeted
attention to prevention, diversion and post-incarceration?
Can we assume that the primary public sector role is state and local, or do you envision
continued growth in the federal role?
*
§ 6.7 THE CIVIL RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT SECTION OF THE WORKPLAN
We have considered distributing the civil rights law enforcement issues in several sectoral
subsections - as components of the education or jobs strategies, for example. But for now, I want
to press ahead as sketched below because the audience will appropriately expect some attention
to the traditional antidiscrimination enforcement agenda. This also permits you to teach about
this unfinished work. Moreover, the best opportunities for boldness are in cross cutting issues,
among them: policy judgments about the lawfulness under Title VI of persistent resource
disparities; retooling agency enforcement strategies to emphasize proactive technical assistance
and voluntary action; and rethinking the legal framework and enforcement priorities to reflect our
21st century diversity.
We are joined at the hip with Chuck Ruff, and will cooperate in his effort to put before you
suggested civil rights enforcement priorities for the next two years.
- Outline of the section
Introduction/Context
Persistence of discrimination, and of enforcement backlogs.
MEMO-V6.WPD
p.12
We have opportunities to strengthen and more aggressively enforce civil rights principles,
and also support appropriate voluntary actions that promote equal opportunity and access.
This includes defending disparate impact doctrine, and defending affirmative action.
The traditional agenda needs renovation to (i) increase its efficiency at handling the retail
problem of discrimination; (ii) contribute more directly to the opportunity agenda in
education, jobs and community economics; (iii) reflect our 21st century diversity.
(a)
Overcome racial disparities in opportunity by expanding the use of civil rights
enforcement. Civil rights enforcement can play an especially important role in
overcoming barriers to educational and economic opportunity, and we should strengthen
and focus civil rights enforcement to complement the opportunity agenda.
Strengthen antidiscrimination laws and enforcement procedures: For example, we could
amend Title II, which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations, to include
businesses that provide goods and services. At present, racial discrimination in retail
sales (e.g., the Eddie Bauer case in which a black teenager was ordered by a security
guard to strip off his shirt because he did not have a sales receipt) does not raise a strong
federal cause of action. We nearly abandoned pattern and practice investigations during
the 1980s. That was wrong.
Use Title VI to address racial disparities: No federal money should be spent in a manner
that supports unjustified racial disparities in opportunity. For example, in education,
Title VI prohibits policies and practices that have an unjustified disparate impact on
select racial groups in terms of access to educational resources, tracking into challenging
courses, the use of unvalidated high stakes tests, and more. We should strengthen Title
VI enforcement.
How much discrimination is there? We should expand research on the extent of racial
discrimination, using the best available methodologies (testers where appropriate), in
such areas as employment, housing, and access to capital. The results of such testing
should be published in an annual report card.
(b)
Fully address all forms of discrimination affecting our increasingly diverse
population by strengthening civil rights laws and enforcement. We must retool our
civil rights laws and refocus enforcement efforts to fully address civil rights issues
affecting our diverse citizenry.
New immigrants: Strengthen laws and enforcement to promote the rights of new
immigrants. For example, in immigration and employment, we could expand
enforcement against labor abuses in "sweatshops," the victims of which are often new
immigrants of Hispanic or Asian origin, and amend present laws to stabilize the
MEMO-V6. WPD
p.13
immigration status of persons who report labor abuses so those persons do not fear
reprisal, official or private.
Language acquisition: Promote the rights of LEP populations. For example, in
education, we could develop regulations to clarify the Lau standard concerning what legal
requirements schools must meet in educating LEP students.
Learning your rights: Educate immigrant and LEP populations about civil rights laws
and mechanisms. We should promote outreach to immigrant and LEP populations whose
rights are protected but who are underutilizing civil rights laws.
(c)
Address discrimination and disparities by promoting voluntary efforts in
conjunction with enforcement of civil rights laws. In addition to reacting to civil rights
complaints, civil rights enforcement agencies should act proactively to encourage and
support voluntary compliance with civil rights laws and values.
Expand civil rights consultations and clarify legal standards: There are civil rights areas
where both the law and policy are unclear and where people of good will may be
managing inappropriate programs. We should act to clarify legal standards and to
encourage actors to seek guidance concerning their civil rights obligations. We could
promote laws or regulations encouraging voluntary consultations with civil rights
agencies. If an actor voluntarily submits his/her practice for civil rights review, he/she is
safe harbored and/or any agreement approved by the civil rights agency following that
review would be defended by the federal government if later challenged by a third party.
Expand proactive enforcement: Absent a formal complaint, where potential civil rights
violations are discovered, civil rights agencies should follow up with the party to correct
the injustice. If discussions are not fruitful, the enforcement agency reserves the right to
launch a more formal civil rights enforcement examination. For example, in education,
the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently learned of a
Georgia education policy that placed students into gifted and talent programs based solely
on IQ test scores, despite the fact that the IQ test was not validated for that purpose nor
validated to be the sole factor for any purpose. This policy led to a disproportionately
low number of minority students being admitted to gifted and talented programs. OCR
consulted with Georgia officials, and the policy was properly amended.
(d)
Mend, don't end, affirmative action as enforcement remedy and voluntary measure
to promote access and inclusion
(e)
[Hate crimes.]
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-- Discussion issues on the civil rights workplan
After further interagency discussion, we will need policy guidance about a number of
Title VI issues.
Should we develop a package addressing "the new diversity"?
How much technical assistance should be done proactively to implement "mend don't
end" in various sectors?
**
IV. THE LEADERSHIP CHAPTER
Following the workplan chapter, you can challenge leaders in a range of sectors to do their part,
and combine this with a vision of locally-based efforts to use the promising practices and devise
locally-oriented workplans. Finally, in this chapter you should describe the ongoing mechanism
within the White House to help support the sectoral leadership, community-based leadership, and
the Federal government elements of your workplan.
(a)
Challenges for sectoral leadership
We expect, by the publication date, to have worked successfully with leadership groups in a few
sectors, prompting them to develop a list of action steps tailored to their sector, and a practical
strategy for implementation. A brief status report on what we have initiated follows.
Higher Education: With staff support from the American Council on Education, a core
group of college and university presidents is working to establish a broader coalition that
will lead a coordinated campaign to educate the public about the value of diversity in
higher education and to share campus practices that promote diversity. We expect them to
launch the effort, designed with Frank Greer as lead consultant, sometime this fall.
(There is a possibility of using a White House event to bless the undertaking.)
Faith Community: Sandy Cloud of the National Conference for Community and Justice
has agreed to lead a steering committee in convening, on October 22 and October 23, an
implementation summit at which a group of faith leaders will write and commit to a
practical work plan for both national and community-based action, and devise a coalition
mechanism for follow through. This will include special efforts to reach those faith
communities that have not traditionally been leaders in racial justice. In addition, at your
September 11 breakfast for religious leaders, you will have an opportunity to mention
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p.15
Sandy Cloud's leadership, and encourage those in the room to respond positively to the
effort.
Corporate: Secretary Daley will informally convene a group of CEOs in October to
identify the most appropriate elements of a corporate sector initiative, and strategies for
enlisting support from key executives. In preparation for that session, White House and
agency staff will brainstorm with some current and former Administration officials in
corporate leadership.
Youth: We are organizing a team of White House staff and representatives from national
youth-oriented organizations to prepare a workplan intended for widespread endorsement
and dissemination. (The outside collaborators will include USSA, Young Democrats,
Young Republicans, the youth divisions of the NAACP, Urban League, La Raza and the
Congress of Asian Pacific American Youth.) Tentatively, we think the plan's three major
components will be: (i) a national campaign to educate the youth sector about the
intricacies and history of race and racism; (ii) an initiative to improve race-related
curriculum and teaching in grades K-16; and (iii) a mechanism to ensure youth sector
involvement.
(b)
Options for an ongoing structure to carry out your work plan
While the work plan is not yet completed, we know that there will be some general components
which will require continuity and should compose the major responsibilities of the new entity:
Policy making (including research and data collection)
Outreach and leadership development (including technical assistance to communities)
Communication campaign (including an awards program)
Support for promising practices (such as a clearinghouse, conferences, grant funding)
The work plan lays out an ambitious agenda that will require the involvement of several players.
With such an extensive scope of work, a coordinating body for the federal sector, and for liaison
with non-federal actors is needed to ensure continued momentum and follow up from outside
efforts. Non-federal leaders engaged on the workplan will expect a central point of contact and
technical assistance.
Option A:
President's Council for One America
A1:
President's Council for One America Plus an External Advisory Committee
The continuing effort could take a form similar to the Council for Environmental Quality
or the Office of Science and Technology Policy. This arrangement would be short of the
ONDCP model which has a large staff, a significant budget, and substantial operating
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authority. The council, created by Executive Order, would be run by an Assistant to the
President (as Executive Director) with a small staff and a blue ribbon advisory
committee. A council staff should include a policy component, which would work with
existing White House policy offices and federal agencies to promote data collection and
research and to develop and monitor policies to overcome disparities and eliminate
discrimination. It would also have a communications component, which would help lead
a public education campaign, support a promising practices clearinghouse, and conduct
outreach to help improve race relations.
Pros:
Location places the Presidency squarely behind racial reconciliation effort
Relatively stable structure
Staff appointed by you ensures White House control
Advisory committee offers opportunity for showcasing diverse leadership,
provides credibility in building partnerships
Cons:
Location and staffing make the stakes high
Advisory committee requires support and nurturing; the familiar
headaches
A2:
President's Council for One America, No Advisory Committee
This option would be the same as option A1 but it would not include an Advisory
Committee.
Pros:
Staff would not be distracted by the day-to-day demands of managing an
Advisory Committee
Cons:
Lacks the outside validation that an Advisory Committee can provide
Option B:
Dedicated Staff reporting to the Office of the Chief of Staff
An Assistant to the President with a small staff, reporting to the Chief of Staff's
office, could take responsibility for managing Administration efforts.
Pros:
Closely linked to you and the White House
At the center of activity
Cons:
Not a formal structure, may not be stable
May not be viewed publicly as a significant enough commitment
Option C: Private Foundation Model
Cl:
One America Foundation
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p.17
The structure could take the form of a private foundation, established at your urging and
supported to varying degrees by the federal government, similar to the Points of Light
Foundation. The goals of the foundation could include promoting research on issues of
race, promoting a public education campaign to support racial reconciliation, and
supporting community efforts to improve race relations. Such a foundation could perhaps
best complement a separate policy-making effort within the federal government.
Pros:
Serves as umbrella to coordinate several areas of activity
Independence
Ability to raise money
Cons:
May not be viewed as closely connected to the White House
Requires someone's time and attention to pull together
C2:
Clinton Library Model
This option is similar to the Foundation model above except that it would be an endeavor
for you after your final term ends, possibly as part of the Clinton library. Staff could begin
immediately to design the structure.
Pros:
More time to put together the funding and structure
You will have more time to devote to it
Cons:
Delays significant Presidential involvement for a few more years
May be partisan resistance to participating in activities because of close
alignment with this Administration
V. NEXT STEPS
Attachments:
Current book outline.
NEC memorandum on employment issues
???
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p.18
ONE AMERICA:
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics, disparities,
discrimination, and intergroup relations;
My vision of One America in the 21st century, and why it is preferable to some alternatives
that are implicit in public discourse, and how the motivation for that vision is rooted in our
history and cherished ideals;
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one another on hard
questions, and the promising practices that may build bridges connecting people across lines
of color and class;
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should undertake this year
and next, but what all of us can do together and individually. Federal, state and local
governments; private sector and voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives,
to help build One America with racial and ethnic justice
***
Introduction: One America in the 21st Century
Context for the book; why I launched this; 21st century challenges; no subject more
vexing; my personal experiences and motivation, in private and public life; summary of
core themes and vision; appreciation to the Advisory Board; some highlights of the book;
closing message to Congress and to the American people.
Chapter 1. Were Is America On Race, And Where Are We Going?
Salience of race/ethnicity in our daily lives; demographic trends; disparities; authoritative
evidence on the extent of discrimination and prejudice; information on integration, social
relations; thematic social policy history since Myrdal/Kerner; most salient progress to
date; the effects of race on our political and policy discourse.
Chapter 2. More Than A Dream: Racial And Ethnic Justice In The 21st Century
My vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in the 21st century, and why his
vision is preferable to competing visions. Seeking clarity about our value commitments
and ambitions for One America. [The section should be significantly historical,
illustrating the conceptual points with references to historical struggles and statements,
revealing the competing visions in the views of notable figures, past and present.]
Chapter 3. Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing Differences
[Modeling how to think about complex, hard questions involving race.] Tackling tough
questions that divide us requires attention to the facts, and a search for the kernel of truth
1
in what the other side of the debate is saying. Beyond the black-white paradigm:
distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the importance, and limits,
of the old model. Examples from the unfinished agenda of combating discrimination,
bigotry and exclusion - including: how much does race still matter; affirmative action
and race-conscious policies; merit; the definition of discrimination; profiling. Examples
from the new agenda of inclusion and opportunity - including: how much do we care
about integration; identity politics and ethnic conclaves; bilingualism; reconciling tribal
sovereignty and interdependence; immigration and nativism.
Chapter 4. Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People Across Lines
Of Class And Color, Creating Community And Opportunity
Chapter 5. The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic details from
NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Clear presentation of the values framework for the
Administration's agenda; cf. Between Hope and History.]
Chapter 6. A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each, federal, state,
local, private and personal elements. This is not just about the federal government,
and not just about government. Very few elements will have FY 2000 budget
implications. Key areas for focus include: (a) education; (b) civil rights enforcement; (c)
economic opportunity and community development; (d) criminal justice; (e) civic
participation, voting and citizenship; research needs.]
Chapter 7. Leadership For One America
[A call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of leaders from all sectors who
will dedicate themselves to learning, teaching and practicing the difficult tasks of
building One America for the 21st century. A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now
underway around the country. Explicitly challenging: elected officials; faith community;
corporate community; youth educators; organized labor; the media.]
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Previous presidents - personalized examples of how some of them chose to move
forward, and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the eyes of the
world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere participants in the history
of this struggle. We must be the authors of that history. Our standing in the hearts of our
children and grandchildren; what we owe them. We must lighten their burdens and
brighten their futures, each and all. Closing message: response to a letter from a grade
school child; and a prayer.
***
2
EDMEMO7 WPD
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President's Book on Race
Chapter 6: Workplan
Section 6.1: Education
Comments
Despite improvements over the last several decades, racial disparities persist
throughout the education pipeline in terms of opportunity and achievement. In
addition, racial segregation remains a problem both among and within our schools.
This workplan seeks to address those challenges, focusing on areas of significant
disparity that have the greatest impact on educational outcomes.
Outline
I.
Introduction/Context
Education is central [primary?]
Achieving my vision requires:
(1) eliminating racial disparities in educational opportunity;
(2) eliminating racial disparities in educational achievement; and
(3) promoting integration in education.
We need to reassess the roles of the different levels of government and of
the family in education.
We need to provide every family with an Education Bill of Rights. 1
A.
Overcome Racial Disparities in Educational Resources and Expectations So
That Every Child Has a Full and Equal Opportunity to Learn
1.
Ensure that every child has access to early learning opportunities.
2.
Ensure that every child has a parent or other adult who is actively
engaged in that child's learning.
3.
Improve the quality of teacher training, ensure that high-quality
teachers are equitably distributed, and ensure that teachers promote
high expectations for students of all races.
4.
Ensure that every child has access to challenging curricula and that
tracking does not prevent each child from achieving to his/her full
potential.
Racial disparities persist in terms of access to challenging courses of
study. Students of color are often tracked into special education and
out of honors and AP courses. We must set high standards for all
children. [LEP issues.]
5.
Ensure full access to modern facilities and technology.
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B.
Overcome Racial Disparities in Educational Achievement and Improve
Educational Outcomes for All Students
Despite some important progress, significant racial disparities exist in terms
of educational achievement. Our goal must be to overcome these gaps and
to raise the bar for everyone. Overcoming racial disparities in educational
opportunity will help overcome these disparities in achievement in the long
term. However, additional, targeted efforts are necessary to promote high
achievement and to be certain that every child succeeds to his/her full
potential.
1.
Hold administrators, teachers, and students accountable for students'
educational achievement.
[Builds on the voluntary national tests and the "no social promotions"
proposals to broaden and deepen accountability structures. Examples
of policy options include promoting school report cards and increasing
public school choice. ]
2.
Overcome racial disparities in test scores and other measures.
3.
Overcome racial disparities in high school graduation, college
participation, and college graduation rates.
C.
Promote Integration and Diversity in Education to Enrich the Learning
Experience for All Students
While ensuring a high-quality education for all students is our top priority, we
must also seek to educate all children in high-quality, integrated schools,
where they have the opportunity to learn together in ways that can break
down negative stereotypes and improve race relations. These goals of
high-quality and integration, though not mutually exclusive, are
complementary. Simply put, high-quality integrated schools provide a more
complete educational experience for all students than high-quality segregated
schools. Conversely, ineffective, racially isolated schools in high-poverty
areas present our greatest obstacle.
Diversity in education can: improve teaching and learning by providing
diverse perspectives that enrich the learning environment; strengthen
students' critical-thinking skills by challenging their existing perspectives;
teach students how to interact comfortably with people different from
themselves and thereby how to function as good neighbors, colleagues, and
citizens in our diverse democratic society; improve students' preparation for
employment by teaching them the value of diverse perspectives, how to
function in diverse business settings, and how to communicate effectively in
EDMEMO7 WPD
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our increasingly diverse domestic marketplace and the expanding global
marketplace; and foster the advancement of knowledge by spurring study in
new areas of concern.
1.
Reduce racial segregation and isolation among schools.
Segregation remains a problem among our schools, and the situation
appears to be getting worse. For example, a recent study reports that
67 percent of black students and 74 percent of Hispanic students
attend primary and secondary schools with greater than 50 percent
minority enrollment, and 34 percent of black students and 35 percent
of Hispanic students attend schools with more than 90 percent
minority enrollment. Most dramatically, 87 percent of those schools
are predominantly poor.
2.
Reduce racial segregation within schools and ensure that students
from different racial groups have the opportunity to learn together.
Even in diverse schools, evidence shows that students are often
resegregated into racially homogenous classes through tracking and
other mechanisms. To promote the educational benefits of diversity,
we must be sure that students have opportunities for positive
cross-racial interactions.
3.
Promote access and diversity in higher education and foster the
educational benefits of diversity.
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Draft
MCohen
8/28/98
RACE AND EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
There two fundamental issues pertaining to race and education that must be
addressed. First, racial and ethnic minorities generally have lower levels of
educational attainment -- as measured by academic performance as well as high
school graduation and postsecondary enrollment and graduation -- and
correspondingly fewer quality educational opportunities than white Americans. This
appears to be a function of both race and of poverty, in varying degrees. Low
income and minority students in particular are less likely to participate in quality
preschool programs [check], and are more likely to attend schools with large
classes, unqualified teachers, crumbling facilities, safety and discipline problems,
fewer computers, and insufficient time and resources to provide students who need
it with extra help.
In the main, the Administration's approach to this issue has been through
initiatives and proposals to strengthen the quality of public schools overall (with
higher standards, strengthened accountability, greater choice, smaller classes,
modern school buildings, 21st century technology, better prepared teachers,
mentors and tutors, after-school programs, etc.) and to target these and other
resources for extra help and expanded opportunities for students in high poverty
communities. The Administration has also provided the resources to expand
access to preschool programs and to higher education. 1
New proposals to reduce racial and ethnic disparaties in educational
attainment and opportunities should be consistent with this overall approach, and
should significantly extend it in strategically selected areas. For example, we
should propose significant new Federal initiatives as well as challenges to states
and local communities designed to significantly improve the quality of teachers for
low income and minority students. We should also propose new inititives, and
challenge states and local communities, to take dramatic steps to provide students
and families in urban communities with a broader range of high quality educational
choices.
Second, to a considerable extent, many students in the United States still
attend racially identifiable schools, despite the fact that our Nation as a whole has
become increasingly diverse. At the K-12 level, segregated housing patterns in
metropolitan areas make racial segregation among schools prevelant. Further, as a
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result of Prop. 209 in California and the Hopwood decision in Texas, minority
application to and enrollment in selective instutions of higher education in those
states has declined. If similar laws are enacted elsewhere or if other legal
challenges erode affirmative action in higher education, we can expect to see a
similar pattern on a wider scale.
In the wake of the 1954 Brown decision, school desegregation was seen as
an essential tool for equalizing education opportunities, in recognition of the Court's
finding that separate schools could not also be equal. However, the difficulties in
eliminating de facto segregation, coupled with a growing recognition that school
and instructional resources are more important determinants of academic
performance than the racial composition of the school, have led policymakers,
parents and educators to focus on making sure that every school is a good school
regardless of its student body composition, rather than on continued school
desegregation.
The challenge for the Administration is to make the case for the value of
diversity in schools and colleges, despite the limited evidence that such diversity
will enhance educational performance as conventionally understood. Rather, we
must be able to argue that diversity in our schools and colleges will enable all
students to be better prepared to participate in more diverse communities and
workplaces, and in a global economy.
Further, we must articulate strategies that will achieve diversity. In higher
education, our discussions to date have focused on partnerships with higher
education and business communities to take the lead in making the case for
diversity, as well as on a range of short and long term "pipeline" initiatives (e.g.,
High Hopes proposal for the long term, and new support for AP courses and test
preparation programs for high school juniors and seniors in the short run).
We have not yet focused on promoting the value of diversity and school
integration in public elementary and secondary schools. I believe it will be important
to support this goal, and to talk about how it could be achieved. We should make
clear that the tools of the past--busing in particular--are not the tools of the future.
But we can articulate a strategy of sorts of making more of our schools more
diverse racially and ethnically.
Our approach should be to first make every school a good school, using
strategies described above. If we do this in urban areas, parents will have more
freedom to choose where they will live. This could lead to more desegrated
housing patterns, and help keep/attract white middle class families to cities.
We should also work to expand choice in ways that can promote
desegration. For example, charter schools could accomplish this (but may not
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always--the Education Department's recent charter schools report seems to indicate
that some may be more racially identifiable than the surrounding community).
Giving urban high school students the option to take courses in community
colleges also might (if urban community colleges are more diverse than urban public
schools [need to check data on this]. Dade County Florida has tried another
approach, by creating Satellite Learning Centers. Initially conceived of as a way of
coping with rapid enrollment growth, these SLC's are "schools" located in the
facilities of large employers. The employer provides the facility, the school system
provides the staff, curriculum, textbookds, etc., and the students are the children
of the employees. Since work settings tend to be more integrated than
neighborhoods, this can be a means of creating schools that are integrated along
racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Consequently, encouraging cities and
employers to locate schools on employment sites and letting parents take their kids
to school near where they work rather than where they live could be another
approach to promoting greater racial diversity in schools.
The pages that follow are designed to stimulate a more full and detailed
consideration of the education ideas the President should advance in the context of
his report on the race initiative. Organized roughly by age-level (pre-school years,
elementary and secondary school years, postsecondary education and lifelong
learning) they briefly summarize what we know about racial disparities, what the
Administration has already accomplished and proposed, and what we additional
steps we might take in the future.
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The Pre-School Years
In the Pre-School Years: Children who do not reach school prepared to learn,
quickly fall behind their peers, requiring expensive and complex remedial efforts
that are not likely ever to overcome completely the initial learning gaps. Special
focus is required for low-income racial and ethnic minority children who are least
likely to attain this level of readiness without special help to the family and in child
care and pre-school settings.
Data:
Studies show that 89% of all children ages 3-5 are read to three or more
times per week compared to 74% of black children and 62% of Hispanic
children.
Hispanics are under represented in Head Start; they comprise 29 percent of
children in poverty, 23% of children in Head Start (excluding Puerto Rico).
Low-income, minority children are more likely to receive child care in a family
day care setting (which may be unlicensed and of uncertain quality).
Research documents the importance of quality child care programs to school
readiness. The research shows that when children are in better quality child
care programs, they have stronger language, pre-mathematics, and social
skills, better relationships with their teachers and stronger self-esteem.
Federal Efforts to Date:
Head Start: ($4,355 million in FY 1998) will serve 830,000 children in FY98,
including 40,000 infants and toddlers; x% are minorities. Administration
goal: serve 1 million children by 2002, including doubling the number of
infants and toddlers.
The Child Care and Development Fund ($3,073 million in FY 1998) in
subsidies to over 1 million children. President's FY99 proposal: ($ 7,500
million over 5 years) to serve an additional 1 million children by FY 2003.
Tax credits: $16.5 billion (over five years) for the Child and Dependent Care
Tax Credit, $98 billion provided by the Child Credit, and $150 billion
provided by the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Tax credits to private employers that expand or operate child care facilities.
President's FY99 proposal ($500 million over 5 years). Credits could be
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targeted to employers in Federally-designated empowerment zones.
Even Start provides educational services to low-income families. In 1998,
700 Even Start programs provided early childhood education services, adult
education, and parenting education in integrated "family literacy" programs,
serving over 34,000 families in high-poverty urban and rural areas across the
country. Over two-thirds of the families served were minorities. Just under
half of the programs emphasized an ESL as a major part of the curriculum.
America Reads is a new initiative to help States and communities ensure that
all children can read well and independently by the end of the third grade.
The original proposal included a component aimed at helping parents help
their children prepare to read.
The President's FY99 Child Care Initiative also includes:
$100 million to assist states in enforcement of state health and safety
standards.
$44 million in scholarships for child care providers who seek training.
$30 million to fund consumer education, parent hotlines, and research
activities.
$3 billion over five years for an Early Learning Fund that will provide
grants to communities for activities that improve early childhood
education and the quality and safety of child care for children under 5
years old.
$5.1 billion over five years to offer more help to families with incomes
under $59,000 through the child and dependent care tax credit.
$5 million in assistance to states in developing support systems for
families of children with disabilities.
Potential New Strategies:
1. Strengthen Families' Ability to Help the Child in the Home. Improved parenting
among low-income families can significantly improve the performance of children in
add
school and in other developmental ways. There are a variety of relatively small
education
scale investments in providing such aid, such as Even Start. Major new
investments in parenting and related training could be made through models that
provide home visits by family counselors or nurses teaching basic parenting skills
and outreach (PAFT, HIPPY), or through USDA's WIC program (which reaches 45
percent of infants born in this country).
2. Make quality pre-school education universally available. Head Start can be a
base for this. Encourage or provide incentives to States to provide all children the
Loonodels to HS
opportunity for a beneficial pre-school experience, with the first goal being meeting
Responsible
the needs of low-income children. Title 1 can fund preschool programs, at local
discretion. We should consider seting aside a portion of Title 1 funds for preschool
working
programs, and expanding total Title 1 investment in preschool. We should also
Funding
make sure that performance standards required in Head Start reauthorization
state HS, expand Title pre' school- all
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adequately address school readiness knowledge and skills.
No!
3. Provide universal access to quality center based child care for all who want it.
Dramatic increases to the Child Care and Development Fund (which includes State
matching) can help more families receive child care subsidies, thereby assisting
low-income families in affording the child care settings of their choice.
Transition Continuty - thru parcntal involvement
4. Link pre-school programs with public schools. Require explicit ties between
publicly-funded child care and Head Start, and the public schools, in order to ease
7
the transition from pre-school to elementary school by: requiring updates on the
child's developmental status to any problems from Head Start and child care to the
school; agreements between schools and Head Start and child care centers on
curriculum/developmental goals; consultations between schools, and Head Start
and child care centers for children with special needs.
Elementary and Secondary School Years
In the K-12 Years: Success in elementary and secondary schooling is, among other
things, heavily influenced by positive role models, family support and high quality
educational services. Low-income racial and ethnic minority children often lack one
or more of these critical success factors. Without meeting these requirements,
many will not succeed in school, the workforce, or as citizens.
Data:
Race & Poverty
Poverty rates for minorities remain disproportionately high: In 1996, more
than one-quarter of both Hispanic and Black families lived in poverty (26.4%
and 26.1%, respectively), while the poverty rate for White families was
8.6%. Moreover, this percentage increases greatly for minority families with
school-age children -- approximately 33% of Hispanic and 34 of Black
families with children under age 18 were poor, compared to 13% of
comparable White families.
High minority schools tend to be high poverty schools. 33.1% of schools
with 0-10% minority enrollment have 0-10% poor enrollment. Contrastingly,
87.7% of schools with 90-100% minority enrollments have 50-100% poor
enrollment. The correlation between percent black and Latino enrollment and
percent free lunch eligible is .72 (Deepening Segregation In American Public
Schools: A Special Report From the Harvard Project on School
Desegregation, pg. 19).
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Minority Enrollment
Between 1975 and 1994, the percentage of White students declined at all
school levels, while that of Black students grew from 14.5% to 16% and
that of Hispanic students grew from 6.5% to 13%.
Student Achievement
In general, data on grade retention and enrollment indicate that Hispanics are
less likely than their White and black classmates to fall behind in grade level
while in the early stages of their schooling. However, in the latter stages of
their academic progress, higher percentages of Latinos than Whites are
enrolled below their grade level.
In 1994, the enrollment in gifted and talented programs was 81.4% White,
8.4% Black, and 4.7% Hispanic.
By age nine, Hispanic American and Black students lag behind Whites in
reading, math, and science proficiency. For example, in 1994, the gap
between reading test scores for Whites and Hispanics was 32 points; the
gap between Whites and Blacks was 33 points.
Black and Hispanic students in 1994 continued to trail their White
counterparts by 10 or more percentage points in their participation in upper
level high school courses such as Algebra II, physics, chemistry and
trigonometry. In addition, white 12th grade students were more likely than
Hispanic and black students to take AP exams. In 1996, 133 out of every
1000 whites took AP exams while 74 out of every 1000 Hispanics took
them. 32 out of every 1000 blacks took AP exams in that year. Hispanics
though, were almost three times as likely (35 out of every 1000 students) to
take a foreign language AP examination as Whites (12 out of every 1000
students). Overall, between 1984 and 1996, the number of students who
took AP exams increased dramatically, rising from 50 to 131 students per
1000 12th grade students. Whites, Blacks and Hispanics all contributed to
this significant increase (Condition of Education 1997, pg. 100).
By 1996, Blacks had almost closed the high school completion gap with
Whites but the gap of completion rates for Hispanics remained wide. In
1967, the gap between Whites and Blacks was 20 percentage points
(approximately 75% to 55%) but by 1996, the gap had narrowed to a 7
percentage point difference (approximately 92% to 85%). Hispanics lagged
far behind at approximately 60% in 1996. That slow progress is in large
part explained by the increasing representation of Hispanic immigrants with
less education (Economic Report of the President 1998, Chart 4-7).
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With regard to Internet access, in 1997, schools with 50 percent or more
minority students enrolled lagged behind schools with 20 percent or few
minority students.
Teachers
Students in high-poverty and high-minority schools are more likely to be
taught by teachers who do not have a major in the field in which they are
teaching.
There is a strong significant relationship between teacher scores on a basic
literacy test (TECAT) and student test scores. (Ron Ferguson, 96,97). In
Texas, Black and Latino children are far more likely to be taught by teachers
who scored poorly on the TECAT. As the percentage of non-white children
in a school increases, the average teacher score declines. (John Kain & Kraig
Singleton, 96).
Additionally, while minority students make up nearly a third of our nation's
student population, only 13% of our teachers are minorities. And more than
40% of our nation's public schools do not have a single minority faculty
member (A Talented, Dedicated, and Well-Prepared Teacher in Every
Classroom: U.S. Department of Education Initiative on Teaching).
School Safety
Schools in cities were at least twice as likely to report serious violent crime
as those in towns and in rural locations, although city schools were not
significantly different from urban fringe schools. Seventeen percent of city
schools reported at least one serious violent crime, while 8 percent of rural
schools and 5 percent of schools located in towns reported any serious
violent crime. Eleven percent of schools in urban fringe areas reported a
serious violent crime, which was not significantly different from cities. (NCES
report -- Violence and Discipline Problems in U.S. Public Schools: 1996-7)
Schools with the highest proportion of minority students were more likely to
report crimes than schools with the smallest proportion of minority
enrollment. Sixty-eight percent of schools with minority enrollments of 50
percent or more reported some crime compared with 47 percent of those
with less than 5 percent minority enrollment. Further, schools with 50
percent or more minority enrollment were more likely to report serious violent
crime than with less than 5 percent minority enrollment (15 percent
compared with 6 percent). (NCES report -- Violence and Discipline Problems
in U.S. Public Schools: 1996-7)
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Federal Efforts to Date:
Since 1993, the Administration's strategy to strengthen K-12 education overall and
reduce racial disparaties in achievement has been to:
Promote high standards for all students.
Hold schools, school districts and states accountable for results and provide
flexibility in how to achieve them.
Target funds to high poverty schools and communities.
Invest in providing critical learning opportunities, including smaller classes,
modern buildings, 21st century technology, and after-school tutoring and
learning opportunities.
Expanded choice and charter schools [need to look at data on racial
identification in charter schools, from latest charter school evaluation.]
These strategies have been incorporated into a number of specific program
initiatives, including:
Goals 2000 and the reauthorized ESEA, both enacted in 1994, re-oriented
Federal K-12 education policy around school-wide and school system
reforms, emphasizing standards-based reform and the increased use of
technology in education.
Title I -- In 1999 Title I grants to school districts will provide educational
services to over 10 million students in high poverty communities.
ED Technology The Administration has proposed a $2 billion federal
contribution over five years to education technology to ensure that all
students are able to use computers with high-quality software and have
access to the Internet in their classrooms, and that teachers have the training
to integrate the use of technology into effective instruction.
School Construction -- The FY 1999 budget proposed Federal tax credits to
pay interest on nearly $22 billion in bonds to build and renovate public
schools.
Education Opportunity Zones -- a new initiative proposed in the FY 1999
budget to assist high-poverty urban and rural local educational agencies to
implement education reform strategies if they adopt tough reforms to hold
schools accountable for improving quality, expanding public school choice,
ending social promotion, and show real improvements in student
achievement.
Class Size -- a new initiative to help States and local school districts recruit,
train, and hire 100,000 additional well-prepared teachers in order to reduce
the average class size to 18 in grades 1 through 3 in public schools.
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Hispanic initiative -- the FY 1999 budget proposed increases $XX million in
increases for several existing programs that assist Hispanic students, such as
Bilingual Education, Migrant Education, and TRIO.
Comprehensive school reform demos -- a new program to help nearly 3,500
schools nationwide implement effective, research-based school improvement
models.
After School Programs (21st Century Learning Centers) -- the FY 1999
budget proposed a $160 million to support nearly 3,000 before- and
after-school programs that will focus primarily on improving student
achievement and preventing juvenile violence and substance abuse. Because
most of the centers will be located within schools, they can provide
educational services directly linked to students' classroom needs
America Reads -- a presidential initiative to ensure that all children are
reading well and independently by the end of the 3rd grade.
too initatives this in
Teacher Recruitment and Preparation -- new initiative proposed in the HEA --
new put w/ WDB
$67 million to improve the quality of teacher education and address
shortages of well-trained teachers, particularly in urban and rural areas.
Potential New Strategies:
1. Make sure there are qualified teachers in high poverty schools. First, encourage
and support state and local efforts to improve the preparation, certification,
recruitment, selection, induction, retention, evaluation, reward and dismissal of
teachers overall. Support necessary R&D on critical components of an upgraded
system, such assessing teacher competence in the classroom. Second, work to
end the practice of disproportionately placing and keeping unqualified teachers in
high poverty schools. Require states to require prospective teacher to pass basic
skills/subject matter tests (and help them develop more demanding assessments) in
order to be licensed Prohibit school districts reseiving Title 1 funds from staffing
Title 1 funded classes (what about schoolwides???) with unqualified teachers, and
bar those without an effective system for teacher evaluation (including removal of
incompetent teachers) from receiving Federal (or just Title 1) funds. Require K-4
teachers in Title 1 schools to successfully complete training in teaching reading,
and fund the training. Third, help attract and retain the best teachers for high
poverty schools. Fund induction and continuing professional development programs
in high poverty schools. Provide incentives for Board-certified teachers to teach in
high poverty schools.
2. Recruit More Minority Teachers. Many believe that a major factor influencing
children's success in education is role models. Enhance current recruitment
programs with effective incentives to attract more minorities to the teaching
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profession. Minority teachers, administrators, and school personnel serve as role
models for minority students and can provide an important link between schools
and parents.
3. Make every LEP child competent in English within 3 years of obtaining services.
English language competency is the key to success in schooling and the economy.
ESL and similar services should be made universally available to all students who
need them. Federal funding can provide matching grants to States to do this.
4. Support English Plus. In addition to ensuring that all LEP students learn English,
we should promote foreign language learning, starting in the early grades, for
student's whose native language is English. The objective is to dramatically
increase the number of students who leave school fluent in two or more languages,
regardless of their native language.
5. Report Cards. Encourage and help States, districts and schools to provide
meaningful school report cards to parents on school performance and quality,
including data on achievement, attendence, safety, etc. Report cards can and
should be used for accountability purposes, as tools in inform parental choice, and
as part of accountability for charter schools. In addition, we could charter and
"endow" (no government strings attached) a non-partisan, non-government body do
fair report cards on State, school district, and school achievement.
6. Support demonstrations of, and if effective greatly expand "Newcomer High
Schools" for recently arrived immigrant students. Many school districts are facing
an increasing number of secondary immigrant students who have low level English
or native language skills, and in many cases, have had limited formal education in
their native countries. In order to prevent these students from dropping out (and
these children are a significant factor in the 40% Hispanic drop-out rate), these
students must learn English, take the required content courses and catch up to their
U.S. peers. Some district have developed Newcomer programs -- either a separate
school or a school-within-a-school. These programs typically educate students for
a limited period of time (most for less than two years) before enrolling them in their
home schools. Three such schools are 4-year high schools. The programs reach
beyond the students themselves, providing classes to orient parents to the U.S. and
63% offer adult ESL classes. There are currently 75 such programs in 18 States
and the Center for Applied Linguistics has sponsored an evaluation of their
effectiveness.
7. Propose an Education Bill of Rights. The proposal would call for states and
school districts to provide every child with essential education services, including
(1) high standards, (2) qualified teachers, (3) curriculum and competent teaching
that prepares each student for college or a good career, (4) parents right to know
on an objective basis how well their children and are doing, (5) parental access to
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teachers and administrators to fix problems that are the fault of teachers and
administrators, (5) preschool programs, (6) small classes, (7) 21st century
technology, (8) after-school programs, (7) tutoring and other forms of extra help.
8. Expand Choice and Opportunity for students in Urban School Systems.
Challenge states and school districts/cities to espand the ragne of high quality
schools students and families can choose among, thereby enabling students in low
performing schools to move to better ones. A variety of approaches should be
encouraged, including:
Community College Enrollment. High school students should be permitted to
enroll in community colleges, for high school level or college level courses.
This step could provide inner city students with access to more qualified
teachers, because most community colleges have faculty with subject matter
expertise (whereas urban high schools often have teachers teaching out of
field). It could also help boost minority enrollment in college. [see if this can
build on existing tech-prep programs, or other articulation agreements.]
Contract School System. Transform urban school systems from
bureaucracies which operate large numbers of schools into systems in which
the local governing body contracts out the operation of each school--to
teachers, nonprofits, school management firms, etc. In effect every school
becomes a charter school, with a distinct mission, control over its own
staffing and budget, and accountable for results. The local school board is
responsible for selecting the schools, identifying new types of schools that
might be needed and soliciting proposals to operate the school, monitoring
the performance of each school and holding it accountable. Under this
approach, all schools would eventually be schools of choice. [see Paul Hill's
work for background on this]
Schools located at large employers. Encourage large employers to provide
facilities on site for schools for children of their own employees, while the
school district provides the teachers, curriculum, instructional materials, etc.
Dade County's Satellite Learning Centers provide the model for this
approach. Dade's experience shows that these schools can (1) be more
diverse than other schools, because work sites are more diverse than
residential neighborhoods (2) save the school districts the cost of new
facilities (3) save employers costs associated with employee turnover and (4)
increase parental involvement in the schools.
9. School Safety Initiative
to be develped for 10/15 school safety conference
Postsecondary Education and Lifelong Learning
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Data:
High School Completion: In 1996, 4.1% of White students, 6.7% of Black
students, and 9.0% of Hispanic students in grades 10-12, aged 15-24 who
had been enrolled the previous October were no longer enrolled and had not
graduated.
College enrollment: In 1996, 45% of Whites, 35.7% of Blacks, and 33.8%
of Hispanics aged 18-24 who had completed high school were enrolled in
college.
Longitudinal NELS data indicates that even among students who score
in the top one-third of a standardized test, students from low-income
families were five times as likely NOT to enroll in college as those from
high-income families; nearly 60 percent of this group cited financial
reasons for their decision.
In 1993, the average SAT score for Whites was 938 out of 1600,
compared to 741 for Blacks and 802 for Mexican Americans.
Among high school seniors interested in going to college, those whose
parents read financial aid materials were much more likely to enroll (80
percent vs. 55 percent).
According to NELS data, 71 percent of low-income students who took
geometry went to college, compared to 26 percent who did not take
geometry.
College Graduation and Persistence: Of those aged 25-34, 41.7% of Asians
have a bachelor's degree, as do 26% of whites, 12.2% of blacks, 9.8% of
Hispanics, and 7.5% of Native Americans.
In 1995-1996, 62.9% of black undergraduates received some form of
financial aid, as did 59.4% of Native Americans, 54.2% of Hispanics,
42.9% of Asians, and 47.9% of Whites. For graduate and
professional schools, these numbers were 62.7% for blacks, 55.8% of
Hispanics, 41% of Asians, and 51.3% of Whites.
Of those who began their postsecondary education at a 4-year
institution in 1989-90, 56.4% of whites received a bachelor's degree
within 4 years, as did 52.8% of Asian/Pacific Islanders, 45.2% of
blacks, 41.3% of Hispanics. Of these students, 27% of whites were
no longer enrolled and had not received a degree, as were 36.8% of
blacks, 36.6% of Hispanics, and 25.5% of Asians.
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Minority-Serving Institutions: 21% of all Black postsecondary students
attend one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's),
nearly 50% of all Hispanic students attend an Hispanic Serving Institution
(HSI(, and X% of all Native American students attend one of the Tribal
Colleges and Universities (TCU's).
Graduate School enrollment: Whites represented 82.6% of those enrolled in
graduate schools, blacks represented 7.6%, Hispanics 4.4%, Asian/Pacific
Islanders 4.9%, and Native Americans 0.5%.
Professional School enrollment: Whites represented 76.9% of those enrolled
in professional schools (e.g., law schools, business schools, etc.), blacks
represented 7.4%, Hispanics 4.8%, Asian/Pacific Islanders 10.2%, and
Native Americans 0.7%.
Adult Literacy: According to the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey
(NALS), there are about twice as many racial minorities (across all groups)
and immigrants in the lowest tier of literacy as there are in the overall
population. These adults can barely, if at all, perform basic tasks such as
totaling an entry on a deposit slip, locating the time or place of a meeting on
a form, and identifying a piece of information in a news article. As a result,
they are more likely to be unemployed, work fewer hours, and earn less.
They are also more likely to live in poverty and receive public assistance, and
less likely to vote.
Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native adults lag behind
Whites in average educational attainment. In particular, Hispanics
adults have the lowest average educational attainment at about 10
years, and a disturbingly large share of low-literate Hispanic adults
failed to correctly perform even one task in the NALS.
Participation in Adult Education: Racial minorities comprise a
disproportionate share of clients served by adult education programs. In
1996, 38 percent of adult education participants were Hispanic, 32 percent
White, 17 percent Black, and 12 percent Asian or Pacific Islander.
English as a second language (ESL) clients are the largest and fastest
growing part of the adult education population. They receive
substantially more hours of instruction and remain in programs longer
than adult basic education (ABE) and adult secondary education (ASE)
clients. Strong demand has created long waiting lists for ESL programs
throughout the country, while ABE and ASE programs appear to have
excess capacity.
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Federal Efforts to Date: The funding levels below are the FY99 Budget requested
levels, unless otherwise noted.
High School Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment
High Hopes for College: $140 million in federal funds ($2.2 billion over 5
years). The program aims to reach 3,000 middle schools & serve over 1
million students over 5 years.
TRIO Programs: $243 million for Upward Bound (incl. Math/Science initiative)
to increase enrollment in postsecondary education for approximately 60,000
disadvantaged students, and $96 million for Talent Search to provide
academic support to about 330,000 middle and high school youth.
Hispanic Dropout Initiative: More than $600 million dollars for a
comprehensive action plan, including $30 million to transform schools with
high drop out rates, and increased funds for Hispanic-serving institutions as
well as federal TRIO programs.
School-to-Work (STW): $250 million in federal funds. Over one million
students participate. More than half of all partnership secondary schools, as
well as 40 percent of postsecondary partners, have developed agreements
that grant college credit or advanced standing for secondary school course
work or dual enrollment.
Summer Jobs: $871 million a year to provide work experience in public and
private agencies, enhance basic educational skills, encourage school
completion, and expose 530,000 low-income youth to the world of work.
Early Awareness Information: $15 million in federal funds to publicize
availability of financial aid and to encourage students and their families to
prepare for higher education.
Financial Aid: As the data above shows, minority students are heavily
dependant on financial aid. The FY 1999 Budget provides a total of $57
billion in aid, including $39 billion from FFEL and Direct Loans (9.3 million
awards) $10.5 billion from the SFA accounts (8.8 million awards), and $7
billion in HOPE and Lifetime Learning tax credits.
Work Study: $900 million in federal funds ($1.1 billion with employer
match). Over one million participants at 3,400 institutions.
Pell Grants: $7.5 billion available to 4 million students. $3,100
maximum award, a 35% increase since FY 1994.
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Perkins Loans: $1.1 billion in loan volume serving about 788,000
recipients.
Suppl. Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG): $619 million in federal
funds ($784 million with match). About 1.05 million students receive
aid at about 3,800 institutions.
FFEL/Direct Loans: Income contingent and graduated repayment
options are available. In addition, the HEA reauthorization bill should
lower the interest rates on new FFEL and direct loans by 0.8%.
Minority Serving Institutions
HBCU's: $137.5 million to strengthen HBCU's; $96 million for capital
financing; Executive Order on HBCU's (i.e., Executive Agency Actions to
Assist HBCU's).
$28 million to strengthen HSI's, and $5 million to strengthen TCU's.
National Need Graduate Fellowships (Consolidation of GAANN, Javits, etc.):
$37.5 million for X,XXX participants.
Adults, Dropouts and Others Outside the Education Mainstream
Adult Education State Grants support local programs that provide ABE,
ASE/GED preparation, and ESL services to adults and drop-outs with limited
literacy skills. 1998 appropriation: $345 million. 1999 request: $361 million.
Participants served: 4 million adults.
The Even Start Family Literacy Program supports local school-community
partnerships that provide an integrated, intergenerational program of adult
education, early childhood education, and parenting education to low-income,
educationally disadvantaged families. 1998 appropriation: $124 million.
1999 request: $115 million. Participants served: 31,500 families (36,400
adults).
The High School Equivalency Program provides academic and support services
to migratory and seasonal farmworkers (or children of such workers), who are
16 years of age or older and not currently enrolled in school, to obtain the
equivalent of a high school diploma and subsequently to gain employment or
begin postsecondary education or training. 1998 appropriation: $7.6 million.
1999 request: $10 million. Participants served: 3,000 students.
Youth Opportunity Areas (proposed) would provide grants to support multiple
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education, job training, and social services for youth in EZ/EC and similar
high poverty areas. The goal of the initiative is to raise the employment rate
for out-of-school youth in target communities from current levels of less than
50 percent to a level of 80 percent, or commensurate with the employment
rate in non-poverty areas. Participants to be served: 50,000 youth.
Welfare to Work and TANF. Resources to encourage and help welfare
recipients to obtain needed education and good jobs.
Workforce Investment Act. The reauthorized JTPA adult and youth
programs.
One-Stop Career Centers: $147 million for implementation of One-Stop
Career Centers and continued development of America's Labor Market
Information System. These will provide streamlined access to job referrals,
job search assistance, information on jobs and their skill requirements, and
information on training opportunities. To date, all States have received
implementation grants, and XX centers have been created across YY states.
Potential New Strategies:
High School Completion and Postsecondary Enrollment
1. Sustain and institutionalize the principles of the President's School to Work
initiative as that law sunsets The Workforce Investment Act enacted on August
7, 1998 establishes new Youth Councils that will develop the portions of the local
plan relating to youth policy. With a re-constituted membership that includes local
school representatives, these councils offer the based on which to build a more
permanent local structure for coordination and cooperation of social services,
business and schools that School to Work began. This is critical to the
development, learning, and success of minority youth.
2. Aggressively expand early mentoring and information. The High Hopes for
College initiative provides a model for all schools to provide families with early
information about the cost of going to college, financial aid that is available, what
courses to take (esp. math, science) to be well-prepared for college, and the
mentoring many need. Backed by partnerships with area colleges, counselors
would work with students in middle school to help raise expectations and goals
early on. The current initiative is very small. It could be greatly expanded.
3. Federal Matching Funds for AP courses and for AP and SAT/ACT Preparation.
The President has made universal access to two years of higher education a
priority, and has created ways to alleviate the financial hurdles. A logical next step
PRACE2 WPD
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in improving the quality of access is to make all students more competitive by
closing the gaps in advanced course availability as well as SAT and ACT test
scores. The Federal government could establish funding matching mechanisms to
encourage states to improve access to AP courses and preparation for AP tests in
low-income schools; in areas where AP courses are not available, funds could be
used for partnerships with community colleges that offer similar courses. Similarly,
matched funds could be used to do one of a number of things for SAT/ACT
preparation: pay for low-income youth to attend prep courses (e.g., Kaplan;
Princeton Review); fund poor school districts to set up their own test prep
programs; as in America Reads, waive the federal match for Work Study students
who help prepare disadvantaged students for the tests.
4. Encourage states to give scholarships to top of graduating class. States can
create incentives by rewarding the top 5 or 10% of graduating seniors at every
school with free tuition to any public institution in the state. This approach is
currently being tried out in Texas. Federal matching funds could accelerate
adoption in other States.
5. Aggressively Promote knowledge and use of the President's Income Contingent
Repayment option: Many believe that low income, and especially minorities, will not
take the risk of default seemingly inherent in borrowing money for college, and thus
will not attend. The President's ICR repayment option eliminates the risk of
borrowing for higher education. If a borrower fails to earn enough after schooling
to repay the loans through normal repayment plans, ICL reduces payments only to
what is affordable, and if not paid off in 25 years, converts the loan to a grant -- no
further repayments required.
6. Frontload Pell grants: Under a frontloading scheme, rather than receiving a
4-year stream of federal grant awards, students would receive the same amount of
grant aid but within the first two school years, and finance the remainder of their
education entirely through loans. Frontloading has been shown to increase both the
postsecondary enrollment and retention rates of disadvantaged students, with low
income blacks and Hispanics realizing the largest gains.
7. Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement and Laws: Civil rights enforcement could be
strengthened by integrating investigation, litigation, and remediation approaches
across Federal and state agencies, and increasing funding for civil rights
enforcement. In addition, civil rights laws could be strengthened by forbidding
institutions of higher education that are found guilty of discrimination from
receiving Federal grants and/or student aid until the problem is remediated.
Another option is to suspend guilty institution's tax exempt status.
8. Provide strong incentives for Higher Education Institutions to Establish Retention
and Preparation Programs: While TRIO's current structure is not be conducive to a
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large expansion, it has developed useful models for helping minorities prepare for,
enter, and stay in higher education. The federal government could encourage
institutions to establish the next-generation of TRIO-like programs for all students
who need them. Higher education institutions could be required set up programs
modeled on successful aspects of TRIO as a condition of continued eligibility for
Pell grants and other programs that aid low income and minority students.
9. Encourage Institutions to Provide Scholarships to Local Disadvantaged Students:
In an attempt to give back to their respective communities, many institutions of
higher education (e.g., Harvard) provide undergraduate scholarships to local
disadvantaged students. Again, the federal role in this strategy could include
financial incentives, or it could be limited to challenging institutions to establish or
expand these scholarships.
Minority Serving Institutions
1. Encourage Partnerships Between Minority Serving Institutions and other
Institutions: As the data above shows, a large percentage of Blacks, Hispanics, and
Native Americans attend HBCU's, HSI's, and TCU's, respectively. One way to help
these students is to establish "partnerships" between minority serving institutions
and other institutions of higher education (there is currently such a partnership
between some HBCU's, Georgia Tech, Boston University, and Rochester Institute of
Technology). These partnerships could, for instance, allow students at minority
serving institutions to take courses at partner institutions, transfer to partner
institutions without paying more in tuition, and use labs or other facilities at partner
institutions.
The federal role in this strategy could be to provide financial incentives for schools
to establish these partnerships (e.g., more student financial assistance funds). Or,
the federal role could be limited to challenging schools to create these partnerships,
similar to how the President called for institutions to put Work Study students to
work as reading tutors as part of his America Reads Challenge.
Drop-outs, Adults, and Others Outside the Educational Mainstream
1. Concentrate multiple resources in lowest income areas for maximum impact.
Combine the concepts of EZ/ECs, Youth Opportunity Areas, Education Opportunity
Zones, with current investments in TANF, JTPA, and Title I-Education for the
Disadvantaged (and other relevant resources, including housing and criminal justice)
into a massive effort to improve the quality of education, training, and economic
development, to lead to dramatic reductions in unemployment and in employment
rates of low income, minority youth and adults in the locations where their
problems are most intractable.
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2. Universal ESL for every adult who needs it. Every adult who wants to learn
English should be given the chance to do so. Create and fund a separate authority
for ESL programs to accommodate rapid growth and unmet demand without
diminishing other Adult Education purposes. Encourage life skills training for
recent immigrants. Promote parent involvement, continuing education, and civic
participation.
3. Redesign the GED to make it an effective alternative to a high school degree.
The current GED is not valued as a real equivalent to a high school degree, but
some such device is necessary for those who cannot or will not obtain a high
school degree. The Federal Government can subsidize develop of an effective GED
that is aligned with challenging State content and performance standards for high
school graduates, instead of norming them against a national average of high
school graduates.
4. Newcomer High School. See "In the K-12 Years" for more information.
Jennifer L. Klein
08/26/98 06:00:02 PM
Record Type:
Record
To:
edley @ law.harvard.edu @ inet
CC:
Subject:
On child care
Millions of children spend time in child care each day because their parents, by choice or economic
necessity, work. All families should have access to safe, quality child care -- regardless of race or
socioeconomic status.
On child welfare
My contact at HHS, Carol Williams, is out of the office. I did find that: (1) there is a
disproportionate number of minority children in the child welfare system; (2) there is some evidence
of racial disparities in the process of referral and investigation in the system; and (3) there is no
evidence of greater abuse and neglect in minority communities. I also found that there are racial
disparities in the amount of time that minority children spend in the foster care system (64% of
African-American children spend over 18 months, as compared to 31% of white children).
Interesting. I think that the most basic problem is the length of time that children spend in the
system and that the President and First Lady feel strongly that getting children into safe,
permament homes is the most important thing we can do. Once I reach Carol, I will get you more
on this.
AUG-26-1998 04:44
1192N
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
/
Administration for Children and Familles
Administration on Children, Youth and Familie
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
FACSIMILE COVER SHEET
DATE: 26 AUGUST 1998
TO: JENNIFER KLEIN
ORGANIZATION: FLOTUS
FROM: KAREN DORSEY
TELEPHONE: 401-0406
RECIPIENT'S FAX NUMBER: 456-2878
NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER SHEET: 12
REMARKS:
per your request.
AUG-26-1998 04:45
P.02/12
glect
nder
vere
nior
ract
'udy
THIRD NATIONAL INCIDENCE STUDY
S-3
inel
OF CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
use
YI-
and
FINAL REPORT
Ily,
Andrea J. Sedlak, Ph.D.
& Diane D. Broadhurst, M.L.A.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Administration on Children, Youth and Families
National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect
September 1996
P.03/12
AUG-26-1998 04:45
Another recurring theme that emerged in the discussion of age-related changes in the
incidence of maltreatment since the NIS-2 concerned disproportionate increases in the incidence of
maltreatment among the younger children (under age 12), especially children in their middle-childhood
years (ages 6 to 11). Note that these disproportionate changes altered the overall profiles of age
differences in maltreatment described in the NIS-2. During that earlier study. the risk of maltreatment
generally increased with the age of the child. With the lopsided increases seen here. which differentially
affected younger children and children in middle childhood, the profile has changed toward a flatter
(even sometimes hump-shaped) configuration. Note that as circumstances deteriorate and maltreatment
becomes more prevalent and more severe, older children have a greater opportunity of escape. This
dynamic may have moderated the observed increases at the higher age levels.
Also note that the relatively flattened-out profile of incidence rates across the age spectrum
is especially striking in the context of sexual abuse. The rate of sexual abuse under the Endangerment
Standard was relatively consistent for age 3 and older, a finding that attests to the vulnerability
throughout childhood, from preschool age on.
The lack of any race differences in maltreatment incidence may be somewhat surprising in
view of the disproportionate representation of children of color in the child welfare population. This
underscores the fact that the NIS methodology identifies a much broader range of children than those
who come to the attention of child protective service agencies and the even smaller subset of those who
subsequently receive child protective services. The NIS findings suggest that the different races receive
differential attention somewhere during the process of referral, investigation.⁷ and service allocation and
that their differential representation in the child welfare population does not derive from inherent
differences in their rates of abuse and neglect. It is also important to recognize that the NIS-3 reiterates
the NIS-2 findings in this regard. That is, the NIS-2 also found no significant race differences in the
incidence of maltreatment or maltreatment-related injuries. Thus. the NIS-2 and the NIS-3 have both
consistently failed-to uncover any evidence of disproportionate victimization in relation to children's
race.
7
For instance, subsequent analyses of the NIS-2 data found that younger minority children who were physically abused.
sexually abused, or educationally neglected were more likely to receive CPS investigation than their white counterparts.
(Sedlak, A.J., 1993. NIS-2 Reanalysis Report. Appendix B to the Study of High Risk Child Abuse and Negleci Groups.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1993.)
4-30
AUG-26-1998 04:45
Errata
The correct citation for this report is as follows:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children's Bureau. National Study of
Protective, Preventive and Reunification Services Delivered to Children and Their Families.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997.
AUG-26-1998 04:45
8. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of the 1994 National Study is to provide a picture of the children and families
currently being scrved by the child welfare system. The findings presented in this report only touch upon
the breadth of information available from the data base. This final chapter summarizes the key findings
and implications of the 1994 National Study, including: 1) a description of the changes that occurred in the
child welfare population and service provision between 1977 and 1994; and 2) an analysis of
characteristics related to length of services, in-home versus out-of-home placement, and race/ethnicity for
the 1994 child welfare population. Below are five major findings from which conclusions can be drawn
about the current state of the child welfare system.
Between 1977 and 1994 there has been a dramatic decline in the number of children
receiving child welfare services, from an estimated 1.8 million children served on April 1,
1977 to 1 million children served on March 1, 1994. This decline reflects a child welfare
system that has evolved from a broader based social service system into a system primarily
serving abused and neglected children and their families.
The intent of Pub.L. 96-272 and other federal policies to shift child welfare from a foster
care system to an in-home family based system has not been realized. There has been little
change in the number of children in foster care between 1977 and 1994. 1 During the same
period there has been a 60 percent decline in the number of children receiving in-home
services. As a result of these two changes, the share of total children served who are in
foster care has risen from 30 percent to 50 percent during this same period.
Despite provisions in Pub.L. 96-272 to conduct an inventory of children in foster care longer
than six months and to hold administrative and dispositional hearings, foster care drift
remains a problem. Although the average length of stay in foster care has declined overall,
more than one-third of the children placed in foster care remain there for more than 18
months.
Minority children, and in particular, African-American children are more likely than white
children to be in foster care placement than receive in-home services, even when they share
the same problems and characteristics.
Minority children also remain in foster care longer than non-minority children. Kinship
foster care does not explain the dramatically longer stays in foster care for African-
American and Hispanic children as compared to white children. For each racial/ethnic
1 Data from VCIS and other sources indicate that the number of children in foster care declined in the early 1980's and then increased dramatically in
the late 1980's.
X-1
AUG-26-1998 04:46
group, no statistically significant relationship was found between kinship placement and the
mean length of time children spent in foster care.
Differences in the child welfare population and services provision between 1977 and
1994. An estimated one million children were being served on March 1, 1994 compared to 1.8 million
children on April 1, 1977. The major decrease was in children who received services while living at home.
The number of children who received services at home declined about 60 percent, from 1,244,400 in 1977
to 497,100 in 1994. Comparable numbers of children were in foster care placement in both years (543,000
in 1977 and 502,000 in 1994).
Although the data from the 1977 and 1994 studies do not in and of themselves provide an
explanation for the decline in numbers and the shift to a higher proportion of children being served in out-
of-home placements, they do indicate that the focus of service delivery in 1977 encompassed a broader
population and was not as strongly focused on serving children and families with abuse and neglect
allegations. In 1977, only 45 percent of the cases being served were receiving child welfare services
because of abuse or neglect as compared to 80 percent in 1994.
The decline in the number of children and families served may also be influenced by increases
in societal problems which have forced agencies to establish priorities in the types of families they can
serve. Consequently, cases being served by agencies today have more severe crisis situations which require
more extensive services and possibly limit the total number of families and children that can be served with
available resources. As reported by Kamerman and Kahn:
A repeated theme in state after state, county after county, is that the social service system
has become so constricted that children can gain access to help only if they have been
abused or severely neglected, are found delinquent, or run away. Doorways for 'less
serious' or differently defined problems are closed. (Kamerman and Kahn, 1989)
This theme is supported by the findings of the National Incidence Studies of Abuse and
Neglect (NIS). Among the children in the NIS estimates, cases investigated because of actual harm to the
child rose from 203,700 in 1980 to 408,700 in 1986. This caseload remained relatively constant between
1986 and 1993, with an estimated 437,300 children investigated in 1993.
Pub.L. 96-272, passed in 1980, set forth certain goals and directions for the improvement of
child welfare services and therefore offers a benchmark for measuring changes between the 1977 and 1994
studies. A major goal of the law was to limit foster care drift. To meet this goal, provisions were put in
8-2
AUG-26-1998 04:46
place to conduct an inventory of children in care longer than six months and to hold periodic administrative
and dispositional hearings. Study data show a decrease in the median length of time cases are open in
foster care from 29 months in 1977 to 18 months in 1994, In 1994, approximately one-third of the children
in care still remained for over 18 months. These findings suggest that provisions of Pub.L. 96-272 had an
impact on foster care drift, but further effort is needed to reach the goal of reducing extended stays in foster
care.
Pub.L. 96-272 also required that children be placed in the least restrictive environment.
However, the percentage of children in group care facilities, considered to be one of the more restrictive
foster care environments, did not change between 1977 and 1994. Twenty percent of the foster care
population at both points in time wcre in group/residential care facilities.
One of the more dramatic changes between April 1, 1977 and March 1, 1994 has been in the
racial composition of children served in the child welfare system. While there was a slight decrease in the
number of African-American and Hispanic children served, the major decrease was in the number of white
children served. In 1977, 1,007,000 white children were served compared to only 456,000 served in 1994.
This dramatic decrease in the number of white children served, while minority caseloads remained fairly
constant, resulted in an increase in the minority percentage in the child welfare system from 40 percent in
1977 to 54 percent in 1994.
On April 1, 1977, African-American and Hispanic children served by the child welfare system
were as likely to be in an out-of-home placement as white children (30%, 25% and 32%, respectively). On
March 1, 1994, the percentage of African-American and Hispanic children in out-of-home care increased to
63 percent and 62 percent, respectively. The percentage of white children increased slightly to 36 percent.
Two additional differences found between April 1, 1977 and March 1, 1994 are also related to
foster care placement. Although children were not entering the child welfare system at a younger age in
1994 than in 1977, they were entering foster care at a somewhat younger age. The most notable difference
is the increase in the percentage of children entering foster care under age one (13% in 1977 compared to
23% in 1994). Second, kinship foster care was not a designated category of foster care placement in the
1977 study. By 1994 it was estimated that 24 percent of the out-of-home placements were relative
placements. African-American and Hispanic children are more likely to be in kinship placement than white
children.
8-3
AUG-26-1998 04:47
Taken in total, changes found in the child welfare system between 1977 and 1994 highlight a
number of important issues about current service delivery. Among them are: 1) family and service
characteristics related to the length of time cases were served; 2) the characteristics related to removing
children from their homes versus providing in-home services; 3) the characteristics related to the
disproportionate number of minority children in out-of-home placement; and 4) the role of kinship foster
care with respect to out-of-home placement and minority children. For examination of these issues 1994
National Study annual data were used for children and families served over a one year period.
Characteristics related to length of time cases received services. An estimated 1,894,400
children were served over the one year period March 1, 1993-February 28, 1994. Over this one year
period, virtually the same number of cases, approximately 900,000, opened as closed. To understand the
reasons some cases remained open and others closed, duration groups were established. Three separate
groups were identified: 1) short stayers: those whose cases closed within 3 months of opening; 2)
moderate stayers: those whose cases closed within 4 - 18 months of opening; and 3) long stayers: those
whose cases were open more than 18 months and may or may not be closed. Analyses were conducted to
identify child demographics, case history characteristics, household characteristics, and child and caretaker
problems related to length of stay.
With the exception of race/ethnicity, in general, the characteristics related to length of time
cases are kept open is based on the needs of the children and families being served. Children from unsafe
environments, poorer economic situations and multiple problem households, and families with caretakers
who have substance abuse, housing, lack of parenting skills, and mental health problems are more likely to
be in the system for longer periods of time than children without these problems. In addition, case history
characteristics are also related to duration. Children with a substantiated abuse/neglect allegation stay in
the system longer, and those children placed in foster care are five times as likely to be long stayers than
children who receive only in-home services (83% compared to 16%). Fewer services are provided to short
stayers than long stayers. While it is likely that the relationship between length of stay and the receipt of
services is related to the more serious needs of the long stayers, it is also possible that being in care for a
longer period of time provides the opportunity for more services to be provided. One might expect that
length of time in the system would not affect receipt of services that are preventive or diagnostic in nature.
However, even preventive and diagnostic services such as health screenings, psychological assessments,
and early childhood education, are more likely to be provided to children who have cases open 18 months
or longer than to other children.
8-4
AUG-26-1998 04:47
With respect to race/ethnicity, African-American children are much more likely to have a case
open for over 18 months than Hispanic or white children (64%, 38% and 31%, respectively). Conversely,
white and Hispanic children are much more likely to have their cases closed within three months than
African-American children. It. appears that the process which differentiates the length of time children
remain in the system, particularly African-American children, starts in the early decision making. The
criteria used by caseworkers to make this decision and whether or not assessment criteria and tools are
culturally sensitive to the population being served need to be explored to understand why African-American
children are more likely to have their cases remain open for longer periods of time.
Foster care placement versus in-home services. For those cases which remain open, further
decisions must be made to provide in-home services or to place a child in foster care. Again, for the
majority of the cases, this decision making starts early in the case management process. Of the children
placed in foster care, at least two-thirds (66%) are placed within three months of their case opening.
The study findings show significant racial/ethnic differences between those families with a
child placed in foster care and families who received only in-home services. African-American children are
twice as likely to be placed in foster care as white children. While Hispanic children are less likely than
African-American children to be placed in foster care, they are placed more often than white children.
Once placed in foster care, African-American and Hispanic children remain in placement twice as long as
white children (median length of time of 17, 18 and 9 months, respectively).
Several other characteristics related to length of stay are also related to placement in foster
care. Children placed in foster care are more likely than children who received in-home services to enter
the system at a younger age, come from a home that relies on government support, have an unemployed
caretaker, come from a large urban center, and come from a neighborhood with drug and crime problems.
In addition, children in foster care placement are more likely to have multiple abuse and neglect allegations,
multiple family problems, and caretakers who had substance abuse, housing, mental health, or parenting
skills problem.
The data suggest that the decision to place children in foster care rather than provide in-homc
services may have considered the needs of the children and families being served. However, the concern
that minority children, and African-American children in particular, are treated differently continues.
8-5
AUG-26-1998 04:48
Race/Ethnicity. The question of differential treatment of African-American and Hispanic
children must also take into account the role of kinship foster care. It was found that African-American
and Hispanic children are more likely to be placed in kinship placements than white children. No
significant difference was found between the mcan length of time African-American, Hispanic, or white
children spend in kinship foster care versus non-kinship foster care. However, significant differences were
found in the mean length of time African-American children spend in foster care compared to white
children, whether they are placed in kinship placement or not (32.9 months for African-American versus 18
months for white children in kinship placement, and 27.2 months for African-American and 19.1 months
for whites in non-kinship placement).
Further study is needed on the effect of kinship placements on children's outcomes. The 1994
National study findings indicate that placing children with relatives can result in more stability, as
evidenced by children in kinship placements experiencing fewer different foster care settings than children
not in kinship placements. Ten percent of the children in kinship placements experienced more than one
foster care setting compared to 33 percent of children not in kinship foster care placements. On the other
hand, on average, children in kinship foster placements receive fewer services than children not in kinship
foster care placements (2.7 vs. 3.7). Whether more services were needed was not ascertained. The level of
services and supervision needed by children and their relatives to provide proper care is not known.
The findings indicate that African-American and Hispanic children are disproportionately
represented in the child welfare system and are more likely than white children to remain longer and to be
placed in foster care. The data also show that the Hispanic and African-American children are more likely
than white children to come from families with greater economic needs and from neighborhoods where
crime and drugs are a problem. In addition, caretakers of African-American children are more likely to
have substance abusc and housing problems.
From the study data, it cannot be determined whether or not these circumstances warranted a
foster care placement as the appropriate choice. However, further analysis was donc to determine whether
African-American and Hispanic children are still more likely than white children to be placed in foster care,
even when they had similar characteristics and lack of problems. It was found that African-American and
Hispanic children are still more likely to be placed than white children when their caretakers are employed;
the family is not on AFDC; neighborhood crime and drug problems are absent; families live in small non-
MSA counties; houscholds have fewer than three problems; children have no disabilities, physical or mental
8-6
P.11/12
AUG-26-1998 04:48
health problems; and caretakers do not have a substance abuse problem. Controlling for each of these
situations, African-American children are still more likely to be placed in foster care than white children.
It is unfair to assume that a pattern of discrimination exists without having more complete
evidence about the extent of need families of different races/ethnicities bring to the child welfare system or
detailed information on the variation in State policies and procedures. It is very likely that a complex mix
of service delivery dynamics such as adoption rates, worker decision making, resource availability, and
family problems and needs all contribute to the observed differences in foster care services and outcomes.
It is also possible that the characteristics tested were not useful in understanding the service needs of
African-American children. However, the findings do suggest that the issue of higher placement rates and
longer episodes in foster care for minority children must be given serious consideration. Subsequent
analyses which simultaneously consider multiple characteristics to identify specific subsets of children are
needed. More information is needed on the assessment of problems and the effectiveness of choices made
by workers as to the services offered and provided. Further research is required to determine whether or
not families are being offered the appropriate services to meet their complicated needs and if the same
services should be provided to all families, regardless of their race/ethnicity.
In summary, this report provides a profile on the characteristics of children and families
served in 1994, and a description of the changes that occurred in the child welfare population and the
services provided between 1977 and 1994. It also provides an analysis of key issues of key interest.
The higher rates of foster care placements and the longer duration in foster care for African-
American and Hispanic children are of serious concern. Although many child welfare agencies have
endeavored to increase the number of African-American and Hispanic caseworkers and to provide training
to all staff on culturally sensitive services, the already disproportionate representation of minority children
that existed in the foster care system in 1977 widened in 1994.
Despite provisions in Pub.L. 96-272 to conduct an inventory of children in foster care longer
than six months and to hold periodic administrative and dispositional hearings, the length of time children
remain in foster care continues to be a problem. Although the average length of stay in foster care has
declined, over one-third of the children in foster care remain there for more than 18 months.
Perhaps most importantly, since 1980 the thrust of public policy at both the Federal and State
level has been to reduce the number of children in foster care and to provide services that strengthen the
8-7
AUG-26-1998 04:49
ability of families to care for their children in their own home. The development of family preservation
programs, the child abuse and neglect prevention grants that were responsible for new early prevention
efforts such as the Hawaii Healthy Start program, and State efforts to refocus CPS from an incident-based,
child-focused investigation system to a more comprehensive assessment of family needs are examples of
efforts to shift child welfare from a foster care system to an in-home, family-based service system. Even
with these efforts, there has been almost no reduction in the number of children in foster care between 1977
and 1994, and the percent of children receiving in-home services on a particular day in the system has
declined by 60 percent.
While this study has provided a profile of the number and characteristics of children and
families being served by the child welfare system, it has not been able to take into account the intricacies of
the context in which these families are served. Future research efforts are needed which examine the
variations in State and local policies and procedures and how the dynamics of service delivery influence
who receives services, the types of services that are delivered, and outcomes for children and their families.
8-8
TOTAL P.12
August 11, 1998
Huma Plr du N.bute to Oprilanner
2
Bobbie Greene
say NislelNew
Office of the First Lady
kgpt are set
Dear Ms. Greene:
Enclosed are documents prepared by Professor Christopher Edley for the First Lady and
her staff. Thank you for distributing them.
Jane Sincerely, Price Smith
Jane Price-Smith
Administrative Assistant, The President's Initiative on Race
ONE AMERICA:
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN THE 21ˢᵗ CENTURY
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics, disparities,
discrimination, and intergroup relations;
My vision of One America in the 21ˢᵗ century, and why it is preferable to some alternatives
that are implicit in public discourse, and how the motivation for that vision is rooted in our
history and cherished ideals;
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one another on hard
questions, and the promising practices that may build bridges connecting people across lines
of color and class;
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should undertake this year
and next, but what all of us can do together and individually. Federal, state and local
governments; private sector and voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives,
to help build One America with racial and ethnic justice
***
Introduction: One America in the 21st Century
Context for the book; why I launched this; 21ˢᵗ century challenges; no subject more
vexing; my personal experiences and motivation, in private and public life; summary of
core themes and vision; appreciation to the Advisory Board; some highlights of the book;
closing message to Congress and to the American people.
Chapter 1. Were Is America On Race, And Where Are We Going?
Salience of race/ethnicity in our daily lives; demographic trends; disparities; authoritative
evidence on the extent of discrimination and prejudice; information on integration, social
relations; thematic social policy history since Myrdal/Kerner; most salient progress to
date; the effects of race on our political and policy discourse.
Chapter 2. More Than A Dream: Racial And Ethnic Justice In The 21st Century
My vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in the 21st century, and why his
vision is preferable to competing visions. Seeking clarity about our value commitments
and ambitions for One America. [The section should be significantly historical,
illustrating the conceptual points with references to historical struggles and statements,
revealing the competing visions in the views of notable figures, past and present.]
Chapter 3. Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing Differences
[Modeling how to think about complex, hard questions involving race.] Tackling tough
questions that divide us requires attention to the facts, and a search for the kernel of truth
1
1
in what the other side of the debate is saying. Beyond the black-white paradigm:
distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the importance, and limits,
of the old model. Examples from the unfinished agenda of combating discrimination,
bigotry and exclusion - including: how much does race still matter; affirmative action
and race-conscious policies; merit; the definition of discrimination; profiling. Examples
from the new agenda of inclusion and opportunity - including: how much do we care
about integration; identity politics and ethnic conclaves; bilingualism; reconciling tribal
sovereignty and interdependence; immigration and nativism.
Chapter 4. Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People Across Lines
Of Class And Color, Creating Community And Opportunity
Chapter 5. The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic details from
NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Clear presentation of the values framework for the
Administration's agenda; cf. Between Hope and History.]
Chapter 6. A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each, federal, state,
local, private and personal elements. This is not just about the federal government,
and not just about government. Very few elements will have FY 2000 budget
implications. Key areas for focus include: (a) education; (b) civil rights enforcement; (c)
economic opportunity and community development; (d) criminal justice; (e) civic
participation, voting and citizenship; research needs.]
Chapter 7. Leadership For One America
[A call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of leaders from all sectors who
will dedicate themselves to learning, teaching and practicing the difficult tasks of
building One America for the 21st century. A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now
underway around the country. Explicitly challenging: elected officials; faith community;
corporate community; youth educators; organized labor; the media.]
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Previous presidents - personalized examples of how some of them chose to move
forward, and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the eyes of the
world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere participants in the history
of this struggle. We must be the authors of that history. Our standing in the hearts of our
children and grandchildren; what we owe them. We must lighten their burdens and
brighten their futures, each and all. Closing message: response to a letter from a grade
school child; and a prayer.
***
2
Version 6-1
/
ONE AMERICA:
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Note: This is only an evolving outline of ideas and subjects. It is not an
effort to capture the appropriate language with which to communicate the
President's ideas to a general audience. It is only intended to guide
research, outreach and deliberation.
Executive Summary
Introduction: One America in the 21" Century
A.
Opening:
1.
Why, as the last President of the 20th century, I launched this initiative.
America faces several challenges at home and abroad as we enter the
new century; Among these is the challenge of making the most of the
opportunities created by our growing diversity, while avoiding the
tragic mistakes we've seen too often in our nation's history and around
the globe.
No subject has been more vexing - threatening our domestic
tranquility, testing the sincerity of our deepest civic values, shaping
our public policies and even our most private thoughts about one
another. The difficulty and pervasiveness of the problem perhaps
explains the temptation to let things drift along, absent an explosive
crisis. Perhaps there's been too much of that in recent decades. But we
cannot afford that any longer, if we ever could.
2.
What we mean by "race"
Since 1960s, greater complexity of "race" and identity; historical
contingency; beyond black-white; ambivalence in the Hispanic
context; "white" ethnics; Arab-Americans; Jews; Native Americans and
the interrelationships of race, culture, sovereignty.
Intragroup heterogeneity and even tensions
B.
Personal context
1.
Observations from 1950s and 1960s: horror and hope
Personal impressions of the Civil Rights movement - what it meant to
me then, and what it means to me today.
2.
Gubernatorial experiences - not a record of accomplishments, but a few
examples of challenge, struggle, failure or success, as a window on the
post- civil rights movement evolution of our nation's work on the issue.
Voting rights/districting; hiring/affirmative action? The politics of
race.
C:\Documents\Book\POTUS book 6-1.doc: 8/11/98
p.1
Comparing notes with other political and civic leaders in the 1970s and
1980s.
C.
Summary of core themes and vision
1.
Vision of community: Celebration of our diversity, not mere tolerance of
our differences; building inclusive communities and organizations to take
advantage of the benefits and strengths. (Examples from forums, etc.)
2.
Vision of opportunity: Opportunity enjoyed so equally that there is no
discernable legacy of slavery, colonization or conquest; of Jim Crow or
internment. (Examples from forums, etc.)
3.
Vision of responsibility: responsibilities of citizenship; responsibility of
reaching out to others. (Examples from forums, etc.)
4.
We must do this for our children and their children. We must do this to
honor those who have sacrificed over the generations in earlier battles to
put our sacred civic values into practice. And I believe we must do this to
honor the God who has created us all equal, and blessed our nation in so
many countless ways.
D.
The Advisory Board and its work
1.
What has been accomplished since launching this initiative - the work of
the Advisory Board, the engagement of scores of thousands of people in
communities and organizations around the nation.
2.
Appreciation to the Advisory Board, and to the many people throughout
the nation who responded to our call to engage in a national conversation
on race, or to redouble their efforts already underway.
E.
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
1.
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics,
disparities, discrimination, and intergroup relations;
2.
My vision of One America in the 21st century, and why it is preferable to
some alternatives that are implicit in public discourse, and how the
motivation for that vision is rooted in our history and cherished ideals;
3.
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one
another on hard questions, and the promising practices that may build
bridges connecting people across lines of color and class;
4.
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should
undertake this year and next, but what-all of us can do together and
individually. Federal, state and local governments; private sector and
voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives, to help build
One America with racial and ethnic justice
F.
Some highlights of this report to the American people:
1.
Headlines from promising practices and dialog efforts (chapter 5)
2.
Headlines from the workplan: enforcement, education, criminal justice,
health disparities, history initiative (chapter 7)
3.
Headlines from leadership/next steps (chapter 8)
G.
Closing message to the Congress, and to the American People.
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Chapter 1.
Where is America on race, and where are we going?
1.1.
The salience of race and ethnicity in our everyday lives
(a)
How it intrudes on us in various ways, explicitly or subtly.
(b)
For some of us, our communities are homogenous and we live in a racial
or ethnic enclave with exposure to racial differences almost entirely
through mass media. Others of us have constant reminders about the
differences in America.
(c)
For example
[real stories
]
1.2.
Demographic history and trends
(a)
Population and population characteristics
(b)
Intermarriage; multiracial families, the census category controversy
1.3.
Social policy history.
(a)
What the Kerner Commission said
(b)
Narrative starting with Myrdal, through Kerner Commission, to Clinton
Inauguration. Organized to focus on:
Hinging events, or milestones in 5-7 key policy sectors:
antidiscrimination law; political rights and participation; education;
economic opportunity (jobs, training, economic development); criminal
justice; housing; health
Weaving through the narrative a half dozen conceptual themes that are
the framework for the narrative - how are ideas have evolved, and our
struggles been shaped, with reference to:
Federalism - what's the proper role of different levels of
government;
-
Public-private-personal? Includes the roles of market and family;
includes the nature redistributive norms - as in the establishment
of food stamps, or SSI; EITC, but not a guaranteed income or job;
etc.
-
Targeting by race or income, versus broad-based programs
-
Black-white, versus more complex multiculturalism (this includes
rising consciousness about Native American issues, as well as
burgeoning Hispanic and Asian populations)
-
Norms of tolerance, inclusion and antidiscrimination
Pivotal figures: include within the narrative some examples of
individuals who have made a big difference - Eisenhower at Little
Rock; MLK at Montgomery and Birmingham; Nixon on Native
Americans; etc.
Stressing the nature of the choices we faced and made at each juncture.
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1.4.
Disparities, and what we know about the effectiveness of past policies
intended to help.
(a)
A survey of sectoral conditions today: Socioeconomic indicators: income,
wealth, business ownership, employment, education, housing, health,
criminal justice variables, benefits program participation
The sectoral drawing on CEA Factbook and on NAS/NRC study]
[An especially detailed look at education and economic mobility]
Voting and civic engagement - voting rights, voter registration and
participation, elected officials, other dimensions of participation
(b)
The broad sweep of social policies, and what conclusions to draw about
their effectiveness
1.5.
Discrimination: authoritative data using various methodologies: How much
discrimination is there?
(a)
Definitions: not looking at mere disparities; considering both traditional
econometric methods and the compelling evidence from "testers"
(b)
Sectors: employment, housing, retail sales, credit, business/contracting
1.6.
Intergroup relations: how integrated are our lives, how have attitudes and
stereotypes changed, etc.
(a)
What is the significance of group separation or segregation? Why does it
matter? Connection to the vision of One America; separateness of our
communities leading to divisions in perceptions and even values, with
implications for our broader sense of community and our ability to live
and work together.
(b)
One community, or many?
Patterns of residential, school and occupational segregation; trends and
historical comparisons
Religious life
-
Other dimensions of social life
(c)
Attitudes: tolerance, etc., over time.
:
Racial attitudes
Ethnic attitudes, e.g., Arab-Americans facing discrimination
1.7.
Summation:
(a)
The effects of race on our civic discourse: how race poisons politics and
policymaking, overtly or subtly; examples of how not to address issues of
opportunity, responsibility and community.
(b)
Most salient elements of progress to date
(c)
Our most challenging work ahead
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Chapter 2.
More than a dream: Racial and ethnic justice in the 21" century
[The President's vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in the 21st
century, and why his vision is preferable to competing visions. Seeking clarity
about our value commitments and ambitions for One America. This pivotal
section is an elaboration of the framework sketched in speeches and in the
introduction to this Report. The section should be significantly historical,
illustrating the conceptual points with references to historical struggles and
statements.
What follows in analytical material - a start for eliciting the President's views
and theories. The book would not be written or organized in this manner.]
*
2.1.
Models: There several ways to think about national identity, and about racial
and ethnic justice, each of which has valuable and even compelling claims on our
values, but which ultimately are inadequate and/or unattainable:
(a)
Neutral formalism: Eliminate race-conscious barriers in law; achieve
"colorblindness" in official and personal conduct: Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s "I have a dream" formulation, as commonly misconstrued.
Clear problems as an instrumental prescription (MLK acknowledged
this in his support for race-conscious measures), but what about as
ideal, as vision?
Seems unattainable if there are group-correlated inequalities because
these will fuel stereotypes and, in turn, be incorporated into attitudes,
and from these into private practices and public policies.
(b)
Assimilation, with racial differences vanishing in importance.
May imply a radical kind of assimilation, in which I have to give up too
much of who I am in order to be accepted in this One America. That's
unacceptable.
(c)
Celebratory pluralism: Racial differences as analogous to religious
differences.
Religious diversity analogy:
-
America is the most religious of industrialized nations, but we do
not worship in the same way; indeed, some scholars assert that
religion flourishes precisely because of religious freedom.
We do not merely tolerate this diversity, we celebrate it. It is one
aspect of America about which we are intensely proud.
Fine, but needs an element of distributive justice as well.
(d)
Rawlsian distributive justice: Definition: no discernable evidence that
America had a history of slavery, conquest or colonialism.
For example, no inherited legacy of disadvantage as reflected today in,
for example, the incredible wealth disparities.
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Fine formulation, but incomplete. It needs an element to ensure
community; interactions across lines of differences. Even if it were
possible, we wouldn't want fully equal individuals separated from one
other by walls and distance.
We care about integration. And we should. Because
(e)
Clintonian Synthesis, and its basic implications for policy and practice
The sources of our values
-
Civic sources - Declaration of Independence, etc.
-
Family and communal sources
-
Spiritual sources
The connection between national identity and our conception of justice
What a just One America should and will look like.
Why I believe we can and must do it.
Chapter 3.
Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing
Differences¹
3.1.
Beyond the Black-White paradigm. What that means, and why it is necessary.
The distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the
importance, and limits, of the old model.
Immigration policy and attitudes - distinguishing a principled pursuit
of One America from divisive and even nativist proposals.
Language, culture and subgroup identity - especially the issue of
bilingual education and English acquisition.
Will other Americans accept a Spanish-speaking 51st state, if the people
of Puerto Rico seek admission to the Union?
The special challenges of Native American justice. Tribal sovereignty:
what it is, and what is must be in the 21st century.
3.2.
The unfinished agenda of combating discrimination, bigotry and exclusion:
(a)
How much does race still matter?
What is discrimination, and how much of it is there?
I The purpose of this chapter: Using just a handful from the menu of topics below, model how we can face
up to some of the hardest questions dividing us in an honest and constructive way; teasing out the policy
implications of the values and vision by grappling with some questions that animate the national
conversation. Make use of short essays that will be contributed by a diverse group of "thinkers", leaders
and citizens; the essays will be separately published in a companion document.
List of topics for this chapter to be developed; the following items are among the menu of possibilities, for
POTUS selection. The book's discussion of each question would (i) respectfully note and engage a broad
range of views, searching for the "kernel of truth" in opposing positions; (ii) develop the President's view
on the matter by reference to the Vision presented in Chapter 4; (iii) sketch the practical implications for
public policies and private practices - with some of those implications detailed in later chapters of the
book.
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How much observed disadvantage is fairly attributable to
discrimination or its lingering effects? (Includes discussion of the
"culture" critique.)
Absent specific discrimination, How important are diversity, inclusion
and integration as ideals, and as social policy objectives? Why?
When we act in public and private life to close the opportunity gap,
when is racial targeting appropriate, and when not? What are the moral,
practical and legal considerations?
Since affirmative action is so controversial, should we abandon it?
[Recapitulation of "Mend it, don't end it."]
(b)
Profiling in the criminal justice system: where do we draw the line
between efficient allocation of resources, and impermissible stereotyping?
(c)
What about "apologizing" for slavery, conquest, and colonization?
3.3.
The new agenda of inclusion and opportunity:
(a)
Do we still care about integration? What price, what burdens are we
willing to bear?
Education
Housing
(b)
Identity politics and ethnic enclaves
(c)
Public policies: with, or without, racial targeting?
(d)
When is a public policy battle, such as bilingual education or affordable
housing or welfare reform, a covert battle about color? And when, in our
civic discourse, must be face issues of race in order to address issues of
opportunity?
Chapter 4.
Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People
Across Lines
4.1.
Topic: examples of public and private efforts to promote racial reconciliation
and racial justice
4.2.
We need important changes in public policies and private practices to change
the social and economic facts in people's lives, but policy initiatives will founder
and fail to command consensus unless build on a foundation of moral and
political agreement. That kind of agreement requires that we feel more connected
to one another, across our differences. So we need promising practices for how
people can come together to improve understanding and, ultimately, to make a
difference.
(a)
Criteria for making these judgments - although not every practice fits with
every criterion :
Does it help build bridges across lines of class and color?
Is it action that improves people's lives, or does it lead to such action?
Is it sustainable over time, and can it be used by others elsewhere?
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(b)
The importance of effective dialogue
The work of the Advisory Board and its staff;
Description of the guidelines for effective conversations on race, as
developed by PIR staff in consultation with experts and practitioners
(c)
Examples of promising dialogue programs
Examples and descriptions from different sectors: government,
business, the media, the faith community, education, nonprofit sector,
etc. And in different modalities: dialogue; education efforts; service
efforts; action efforts, etc. (Excerpting from the web site and from a
separate, detailed compendium volume we will publish)
-
City Year
-
Americorps
-
Search for Common Ground
-
Bell Atlantic, Levi Straus (?)
-
A World of Difference
-
Students Talking About Race (STAR)
-
Etc.
Unpromising practices: what doesn't work, and makes our problems
worse
4.3.
Establishing an ongoing program to recognize and replicate promising
practices
(a)
Announce (pre-cooked) creation of a private program analogous to the
Ford Foundation-funded Kennedy School program on Innovations in
Government, which produces annual awards and publishes case studies
Chapter 5.
The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic details
from NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Presented to show debate and struggle
(within the Administration and with Congress) over the conceptualization the
Opportunity Agenda and the appropriate means; an overlay of debate about the
role of government generally, and of the Federal government in particular.]
Chapter 6.
A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each,
federal, state, local, private and personal elements. To repeat: This is not just
about the federal government, and not just about government. Few items will have
FY 2000 budget impacts. Several will have "down payments" represented in
Administration accomplishments and earlier proposals.]
6.1.
Education and Economic Opportunity
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(a)
Closing the opportunity gap in K-12 education
(b)
Closing the gaps in higher education and technical education
(c)
Combating the twinned calamities of racial isolation and poverty
concentration, in schools and in housing.
(d)
Leveling the economic development playing field, and affirmatively
mitigating disincentives for job-creation in struggling communities.
(e)
Building a stronger entrepreneurial class -initiatives in business formation
and development (apart from government contracting programs, which
deserve continued support to remedy discrimination where it exists).
6.2.
Enforcing our antidiscrimination laws and values
(a)
Strengthening law enforcement -- federal and state, public and private;
increasing voluntary compliance with antidiscrimination laws and
principles
(b)
The legal framework for opportunity - shaping federal and state civil
rights law and law enforcement to promote educational and economic
opportunity
(c)
Data and research:
authoritative time-series data measuring the extent of discrimination in
various sectors and regions, using both statistical and "tester"
methodologies.
We must be able to answer the questions, "How much discrimination is
there, and are we making progress?"
6.3.
Public safety and the administration of justice
(a)
The entitlement to a safe community
(b)
Youth focus: Just as we invest in child nutrition to save lives, we must
find a way to make the interventions needed to prevent the reckless or
desperate turn to crime
6.4.
Health and Services
(a)
Health disparities initiative
(b)
The insurance gap
(c)
Elder services [?]
6.5.
Citizenship and Civic Life
(a)
Voter registration and participation as civic obligation
(b)
Naturalization and immigrant integration
(c)
The news and entertainment media
Enormous power for good of ill; limited accountability to government
because of the First Amendment, which if of course as it should be. But
the media are accountable to us in a different sense, and have both
rights and responsibilities. What are those in connection with the
struggle for a racially just One America?
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Cf., the issue violence in the media
(d)
School and university curricula
Bold initiative to expand/improve the teaching of history, viewing the
study of history as instruction in dealing with difference; cf.
NDEA/Sputnik.
More generally, curricular improvements so that Americans understand
more about Americans
(e)
Bold initiative to enlist the faith community in this work, tapping not just
their resources in free basements and mailing lists, but their spiritual
resources.
6.6.
Research needs
(a)
Missing data - under-analyzed groups and subgroups, especially Native
Americans and Asians.
(b)
Authoritative tracking of disparities to mark our progress into the next
century.
(c)
Periodic report card [by the "follow-on entity"]
Chapter 7.
Leadership For One America
7.1.
Call to action
(a)
I am issuing a call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of
leaders from all sectors who will dedicate themselves to learning, teaching
and practicing the difficult tasks of building One America for the 21st
century.
(b)
What the Federal government's ongoing commitment will be - the -
"follow-on entity"
7.2.
A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now underway in communities and
organizations around the country.
(a)
In general terms: Holding ourselves accountable for the quality of our
leadership: creating effective watchdog and feedback mechanisms.
(b)
Sectoral leadership and action: I am assigning responsibility for nurturing
this community-based engagement by explicitly challenging certain
sectors, organizations and leaders.
Elected officials
Faith community
Corporate community
Youth
Educators
Organized labor
The media
Others??
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(c)
Community leadership and action: Community-based workplans to be
developed by local partnerships, reporting to their communities. [One
America Partnerships?]
(d)
Federal leadership and action:
Strengthening the Civil Rights Commission and its state partners. A
network of means to monitor the roles and activities of political leaders,
corporate leaders, civic leaders, the media.
[An ongoing Federal council or other "follow-on entitity"]
Chapter 8. Conclusion
8.1.
Reprise
8.2.
Personalized examples of how previous presidents chose to move forward,
and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the
eyes of the world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere
participants in the history of this struggle. We must be the authors of that history.
Our standing in the hearts of our children and grandchildren; what we owe them.
We must lighten their burdens and brighten their futures, each and all.
8.3.
Closing message. Response to a letter from a grade school child. A prayer.
***
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I
ONE AMERICA:
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics, disparities,
discrimination, and intergroup relations;
My vision of One America in the 21st century, and why it is preferable to some alternatives
that are implicit in public discourse, and how the motivation for that vision is rooted in our
history and cherished ideals;
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one another on hard
questions, and the promising practices that may build bridges connecting people across lines
of color and class;
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should undertake this year
and next, but what all of us can do together and individually. Federal, state and local
governments; private sector and voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives,
to help build One America with racial and ethnic justice
Introduction: One America in the 21st Century
Context for the book; why I launched this; 21ˢᵗ century challenges; no subject more
vexing; my personal experiences and motivation, in private and public life; summary of
core themes and vision; appreciation to the Advisory Board; some highlights of the book;
closing message to Congress and to the American people.
Chapter 1. Were Is America On Race, And Where Are We Going?
Salience of race/ethnicity in our daily lives; demographic trends; disparities; authoritative
evidence on the extent of discrimination and prejudice; information on integration, social
relations; thematic social policy history since Myrdal/Kerner; most salient progress to
date; the effects of race on our political and policy discourse.
Chapter 2. More Than A Dream: Racial And Ethnic Justice In The 21st Century
My vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in the 21st century, and why his
vision is preferable to competing visions. Seeking clarity about our value commitments
and ambitions for One America. [The section should be significantly historical,
illustrating the conceptual points with references to historical struggles and statements,
revealing the competing visions in the views of notable figures, past and present.]
Chapter 3. Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing Differences
[Modeling how to think about complex, hard questions involving race.] Tackling tough
questions that divide us requires attention to the facts, and a search for the kernel of truth
1
in what the other side of the debate is saying. Beyond the black-white paradigm:
distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the importance, and limits,
of the old model. Examples from the unfinished agenda of combating discrimination,
bigotry and exclusion - including: how much does race still matter; affirmative action
and race-conscious policies; merit; the definition of discrimination; profiling. Examples
from the new agenda of inclusion and opportunity - including: how much do we care
about integration; identity politics and ethnic conclaves; bilingualism; reconciling tribal
sovereignty and interdependence; immigration and nativism.
Chapter 4. Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People Across Lines
Of Class And Color, Creating Community And Opportunity
Chapter 5. The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic details from
NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Clear presentation of the values framework for the
Administration's agenda; cf. Between Hope and History.]
Chapter 6. A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each, federal, state,
local, private and personal elements. This is not just about the federal government,
and not just about government. Very few elements will have FY 2000 budget
implications. Key areas for focus include: (a) education; (b) civil rights enforcement; (c)
economic opportunity and community development; (d) criminal justice; (e) civic
participation, voting and citizenship; research needs.]
Chapter 7. Leadership For One America
[A call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of leaders from all sectors who
will dedicate themselves to learning, teaching and practicing the difficult tasks of
building One America for the 21st century. A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now
underway around the country. Explicitly challenging: elected officials; faith community;
corporate community; youth educators; organized labor; the media.]
Chapter 8. Conclusion
Previous presidents - personalized examples of how some of them chose to move
forward, and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the eyes of the
world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere participants in the history
of this struggle. We must be the authors of that history. Our standing in the hearts of our
children and grandchildren; what we owe them. We must lighten their burdens and
brighten their futures, each and all. Closing message: response to a letter from a grade
school child; and a prayer.
***
2
Version 6-1
I
ONE AMERICA:
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC JUSTICE IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Note: This is only an evolving outline of ideas and subjects. It is not an
effort to capture the appropriate language with which to communicate the
President's ideas to a general audience. It is only intended to guide
research, outreach and deliberation.
Executive Summary
Introduction: One America in the 21" Century
A.
Opening:
1.
Why, as the last President of the 20th century, I launched this initiative.
America faces several challenges at home and abroad as we enter the
new century; Among these is the challenge of making the most of the
opportunities created by our growing diversity, while avoiding the
tragic mistakes we've seen too often in our nation's history and around
the globe.
No subject has been more vexing - threatening our domestic
tranquility, testing the sincerity of our deepest civic values, shaping
our public policies and even our most private thoughts about one
another. The difficulty and pervasiveness of the problem perhaps
- explains the temptation to let things drift along, absent an explosive
crisis. Perhaps there's been too much of that in recent decades. But we
cannot afford that any longer, if we ever could.
2.
What we mean by "race"
Since 1960s, greater complexity of "race" and identity; historical
contingency; beyond black-white; ambivalence in the Hispanic
context; "white" ethnics; Arab-Americans; Jews; Native Americans and
the interrelationships of race, culture, sovereignty.
Intragroup heterogeneity and even tensions
B.
Personal context
1.
Observations from 1950s and 1960s: horror and hope
Personal impressions of the Civil Rights movement - what it meant to
me then, and what it means to me today.
2.
Gubernatorial experiences - not a record of accomplishments, but a few
examples of challenge, struggle, failure or success, as a window on the
post- civil rights movement evolution of our nation's work on the issue.
Voting rights/districting; hiring/affirmative action? The politics of
race.
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Comparing notes with other political and civic leaders in the 1970s and
1980s.
C.
Summary of core themes and vision
1.
Vision of community: Celebration of our diversity, not mere tolerance of
our differences; building inclusive communities and organizations to take
advantage of the benefits and strengths. (Examples from forums, etc.)
2.
Vision of opportunity: Opportunity enjoyed so equally that there is no
discernable legacy of slavery, colonization or conquest; of Jim Crow or
internment. (Examples from forums, etc.)
3.
Vision of responsibility: responsibilities of citizenship; responsibility of
reaching out to others. (Examples from forums, etc.)
4.
We must do this for our children and their children. We must do this to
honor those who have sacrificed over the generations in earlier battles to
put our sacred civic values into practice. And I believe we must do this to
honor the God who has created us all equal, and blessed our nation in so
many countless ways.
D.
The Advisory Board and its work
1.
What has been accomplished since launching this initiative - the work of
the Advisory Board, the engagement of scores of thousands of people in
communities and organizations around the nation.
2.
Appreciation to the Advisory Board, and to the many people throughout
the nation who responded to our call to engage in a national conversation
on race, or to redouble their efforts already underway.
E.
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
1.
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics,
disparities, discrimination, and intergroup relations;
2.
My vision of One America in the 21st century, and why it is preferable to
some alternatives that are implicit in public discourse, and how the
motivation for that vision is rooted in our history and cherished ideals;
3.
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one
another on hard questions, and the promising practices that may build
bridges connecting people across lines of color and class;
4.
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should
undertake this year and next, but what all of us can do together and
individually. Federal, state and local governments; private sector and
voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives, to help build
One America with racial and ethnic justice
F.
Some highlights of this report to the American people:
1.
Headlines from promising practices and dialog efforts (chapter 5)
2.
Headlines from the workplan: enforcement, education, criminal justice,
health disparities, history initiative (chapter 7)
3.
Headlines from leadership/next steps (chapter 8)
G.
Closing message to the Congress, and to the American People.
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Chapter 1.
Where is America on race, and where are we going?
1.1.
The salience of race and ethnicity in our everyday lives
(a)
How it intrudes on us in various ways, explicitly or subtly.
(b)
For some of us, our communities are homogenous and we live in a racial
or ethnic enclave with exposure to racial differences almost entirely
through mass media. Others of us have constant reminders about the
differences in America.
(c)
For example
[real stories
]
1.2.
Demographic history and trends
(a)
Population and population characteristics
(b)
Intermarriage; multiracial families, the census category controversy
1.3.
Social policy history.
(a)
What the Kerner Commission said
(b)
Narrative starting with Myrdal, through Kerner Commission, to Clinton
Inauguration. Organized to focus on:
Hinging events, or milestones in 5-7 key policy sectors:
antidiscrimination law; political rights and participation; education;
economic opportunity (jobs, training, economic development); criminal
justice; housing; health
Weaving through the narrative a half dozen conceptual themes that are
the framework for the narrative - how are ideas have evolved, and our
struggles been shaped, with reference to:
-
Federalism - what's the proper role of different levels of
government;
-
Public-private-personal? Includes the roles of market and family;
includes the nature redistributive norms - as in the establishment
of food stamps, or SSI; EITC, but not a guaranteed income or job;
etc.
-
Targeting by race or income, versus broad-based programs
-
Black-white, versus more complex multiculturalism (this includes
rising consciousness about Native American issues, as well as
burgeoning Hispanic and Asian populations)
-
Norms of tolerance, inclusion and antidiscrimination
Pivotal figures: include within the narrative some examples of
individuals who have made a big difference - Eisenhower at Little
Rock; MLK at Montgomery and Birmingham; Nixon on Native
Americans; etc.
Stressing the nature of the choices we faced and made at each juncture.
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1.4.
Disparities, and what we know about the effectiveness of past policies
intended to help.
(a)
A survey of sectoral conditions today: Socioeconomic indicators: income,
wealth, business ownership, employment, education, housing, health,
criminal justice variables, benefits program participation
The sectoral drawing on CEA Factbook and on NAS/NRC study]
[An especially detailed look at education and economic mobility]
Voting and civic engagement - voting rights, voter registration and
participation, elected officials, other dimensions of participation
(b)
The broad sweep of social policies, and what conclusions to draw about
their effectiveness
1.5.
Discrimination: authoritative data using various methodologies: How much
discrimination is there?
(a)
Definitions: not looking at mere disparities; considering both traditional
econometric methods and the compelling evidence from "testers"
(b)
Sectors: employment, housing, retail sales, credit, business/contracting
1.6.
Intergroup relations: how integrated are our lives, how have attitudes and
stereotypes changed, etc.
(a)
What is the significance of group separation or segregation? Why does it
matter? Connection to the vision of One America; separateness of our
communities leading to divisions in perceptions and even values, with
implications for our broader sense of community and our ability to live
and work together.
(b)
One community, or many?
Patterns of residential, school and occupational segregation; trends and
historical comparisons
-
Religious life
-
Other dimensions of social life
(c)
Attitudes: tolerance, etc., over time.
Racial attitudes
Ethnic attitudes, e.g., Arab-Americans facing discrimination
1.7.
Summation:
(a)
The effects of race on our civic discourse: how race poisons politics and
policymaking, overtly or subtly; examples of how not to address issues of
opportunity, responsibility and community.
(b)
Most salient elements of progress to date
(c)
Our most challenging work ahead
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Chapter 2.
More than a dream: Racial and ethnic justice in the 21st century
[The President's vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in the 21st
century, and why his vision is preferable to competing visions. Seeking clarity
about our value commitments and ambitions for One America. This pivotal
section is an elaboration of the framework sketched in speeches and in the
introduction to this Report. The section should be significantly historical,
illustrating the conceptual points with references to historical struggles and
statements.
What follows in analytical material - a start for eliciting the President's views
and theories. The book would not be written or organized in this manner.]
*
2.1.
Models: There several ways to think about national identity, and about racial
and ethnic justice, each of which has valuable and even compelling claims on our
values, but which ultimately are inadequate and/or unattainable:
(a)
Neutral formalism: Eliminate race-conscious barriers in law; achieve
"colorblindness" in official and personal conduct: Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s "I have a dream" formulation, as commonly misconstrued.
Clear problems as an instrumental prescription (MLK acknowledged
this in his support for race-conscious measures), but what about as
ideal, as vision?
Seems unattainable if there are group-correlated inequalities because
these will fuel stereotypes and, in turn, be incorporated into attitudes,
and from these into private practices and public policies.
(b)
Assimilation, with racial differences vanishing in importance.
May imply a radical kind of assimilation, in which I have to give up too
much of who I am in order to be accepted in this One America. That's
unacceptable.
(c)
Celebratory pluralism: Racial differences as analogous to religious
differences.
Religious diversity analogy:
-
America is the most religious of industrialized nations, but we do
not worship in the same way; indeed, some scholars assert that
religion flourishes precisely because of religious freedom.
We do not merely tolerate this diversity, we celebrate it. It is one
aspect of America about which we are intensely proud.
Fine, but needs an element of distributive justice as well.
(d)
Rawlsian distributive justice: Definition: no discernable evidence that
America had a history of slavery, conquest or colonialism.
For example, no inherited legacy of disadvantage as reflected today in,
for example, the incredible wealth disparities.
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Fine formulation, but incomplete. It needs an element to ensure
community; interactions across lines of differences. Even if it were
possible, we wouldn't want fully equal individuals separated from one
other by walls and distance.
We care about integration. And we should. Because
(e)
Clintonian Synthesis, and its basic implications for policy and practice
The sources of our values
-
Civic sources - Declaration of Independence, etc.
-
Family and communal sources
-
Spiritual sources
The connection between national identity and our conception of justice
What a just One America should and will look like.
Why I believe we can and must do it.
Chapter 3.
Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing
Differences¹
3.1.
Beyond the Black-White paradigm. What that means, and why it is necessary.
The distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the
importance, and limits, of the old model.
Immigration policy and attitudes - distinguishing a principled pursuit
of One America from divisive and even nativist proposals.
Language, culture and subgroup identity - especially the issue of
bilingual education and English acquisition.
Will other Americans accept a Spanish-speaking 51st state, if the people
of Puerto Rico seek admission to the Union?
The special challenges of Native American justice. Tribal sovereignty:
what it is, and what is must be in the 21st century.
3.2.
The unfinished agenda of combating discrimination, bigotry and exclusion:
(a)
How much does race still matter?
What is discrimination, and how much of it is there?
I
The purpose of this chapter: Using just a handful from the menu of topics below, model how we can face
up to some of the hardest questions dividing us in an honest and constructive way; teasing out the policy
implications of the values and vision by grappling with some questions that animate the national
conversation. Make use of short essays that will be contributed by a diverse group of "thinkers", leaders
and citizens; the essays will be separately published in a companion document.
List of topics for this chapter to be developed; the following items are among the menu of possibilities, for
POTUS selection. The book's discussion of each question would (i) respectfully note and engage a broad
range of views, searching for the "kernel of truth" in opposing positions; (ii) develop the President's view
on the matter by reference to the Vision presented in Chapter 4; (iii) sketch the practical implications for
public policies and private practices - with some of those implications detailed in later chapters of the
book.
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How much observed disadvantage is fairly attributable to
discrimination or its lingering effects? (Includes discussion of the
"culture" critique.)
Absent specific discrimination, How important are diversity, inclusion
and integration as ideals, and as social policy objectives? Why?
When we act in public and private life to close the opportunity gap,
when is racial targeting appropriate, and when not? What are the moral,
practical and legal considerations?
Since affirmative action is so controversial, should we abandon it?
[Recapitulation of "Mend it, don't end it."]
(b)
Profiling in the criminal justice system: where do we draw the line
between efficient allocation of resources, and impermissible stereotyping?
(c)
What about "apologizing" for slavery, conquest, and colonization?
3.3.
The new agenda of inclusion and opportunity:
(a)
Do we still care about integration? What price, what burdens are we
willing to bear?
Education
Housing
(b)
Identity politics and ethnic enclaves
(c)
Public policies: with, or without, racial targeting?
(d)
When is a public policy battle, such as bilingual education or affordable
housing or welfare reform, a covert battle about color? And when, in our
civic discourse, must be face issues of race in order to address issues of
opportunity?
Chapter 4.
Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People
Across Lines
4.1.
Topic: examples of public and private efforts to promote racial reconciliation
and racial justice
4.2.
We need important changes in public policies and private practices to change
the social and economic facts in people's lives, but policy initiatives will founder
and fail to command consensus unless build on a foundation of moral and
political agreement. That kind of agreement requires that we feel more connected
to one another, across our differences. So we need promising practices for how
people can come together to improve understanding and, ultimately, to make a
difference.
(a)
Criteria for making these judgments - although not every practice fits with
every criterion :
Does it help build bridges across lines of class and color?
Is it action that improves people's lives, or does it lead to such action?
Is it sustainable over time, and can it be used by others elsewhere?
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(b)
The importance of effective dialogue
The work of the Advisory Board and its staff;
Description of the guidelines for effective conversations on race, as
developed by PIR staff in consultation with experts and practitioners
(c)
Examples of promising dialogue programs
Examples and descriptions from different sectors: government,
business, the media, the faith community, education, nonprofit sector,
etc. And in different modalities: dialogue; education efforts; service
efforts; action efforts, etc. (Excerpting from the web site and from a
separate, detailed compendium volume we will publish)
-
City Year
-
Americorps
-
Search for Common Ground
-
Bell Atlantic, Levi Straus (?)
-
A World of Difference
-
Students Talking About Race (STAR)
-
Etc.
Unpromising practices: what doesn't work, and makes our problems
worse
4.3.
Establishing an ongoing program to recognize and replicate promising
practices
(a)
Announce (pre-cooked) creation of a private program analogous to the
Ford Foundation-funded Kennedy School program on Innovations in
Government, which produces annual awards and publishes case studies
Chapter 5.
The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic details
from NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Presented to show debate and struggle
(within the Administration and with Congress) over the conceptualization the
Opportunity Agenda and the appropriate means; an overlay of debate about the
role of government generally, and of the Federal government in particular.]
Chapter 6.
A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each,
federal, state, local, private and personal elements. To repeat: This is not just
about the federal government, and not just about government. Few items will have
FY 2000 budget impacts. Several will have "down payments" represented in
Administration accomplishments and earlier proposals.]
6.1.
Education and Economic Opportunity
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(a)
Closing the opportunity gap in K-12 education
I
(b)
Closing the gaps in higher education and technical education
(c)
Combating the twinned calamities of racial isolation and poverty
concentration, in schools and in housing.
(d)
Leveling the economic development playing field, and affirmatively
mitigating disincentives for job-creation in struggling communities.
(e)
Building a stronger entrepreneurial class -initiatives in business formation
and development (apart from government contracting programs, which
deserve continued support to remedy discrimination where it exists).
6.2.
Enforcing our antidiscrimination laws and values
(a)
Strengthening law enforcement -- federal and state, public and private;
increasing voluntary compliance with antidiscrimination laws and
principles
(b)
The legal framework for opportunity - shaping federal and state civil
rights law and law enforcement to promote educational and economic
opportunity
(c)
Data and research:
authoritative time-series data measuring the extent of discrimination in
various sectors and regions, using both statistical and "tester"
methodologies.
We must be able to answer the questions, "How much discrimination is
there, and are we making progress?"
6.3.
Public safety and the administration of justice
(a)
The entitlement to a safe community
(b)
Youth focus: Just as we invest in child nutrition to save lives, we must
find a way to make the interventions needed to prevent the reckless or
desperate turn to crime
6.4.
Health and Services
(a)
Health disparities initiative
(b)
The insurance gap
(c)
Elder services [?]
6.5.
Citizenship and Civic Life
(a)
Voter registration and participation as civic obligation
(b)
Naturalization and immigrant integration
(c)
The news and entertainment media
Enormous power for good of ill; limited accountability to government
because of the First Amendment, which if of course as it should be. But
the media are accountable to us in a different sense, and have both
rights and responsibilities. What are those in connection with the
struggle for a racially just One America?
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Cf., the issue violence in the media
(d)
School and university curricula
Bold initiative to expand/improve the teaching of history, viewing the
study of history as instruction in dealing with difference; cf.
NDEA/Sputnik.
More generally, curricular improvements so that Americans understand
more about Americans
(e)
Bold initiative to enlist the faith community in this work, tapping not just
their resources in free basements and mailing lists, but their spiritual
resources.
6.6.
Research needs
(a)
Missing data - under-analyzed groups and subgroups, especially Native
Americans and Asians.
(b)
Authoritative tracking of disparities to mark our progress into the next
century.
(c)
Periodic report card [by the "follow-on entity"]
Chapter 7.
Leadership For One America
7.1.
Call to action
(a)
I am issuing a call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of
leaders from all sectors who will dedicate themselves to learning, teaching
and practicing the difficult tasks of building One America for the 21st
century.
(b)
What the Federal government's ongoing commitment will be - the
"follow-on entity"
7.2.
A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now underway in communities and
organizations around the country.
(a)
In general terms: Holding ourselves accountable for the quality of our
leadership: creating effective watchdog and feedback mechanisms.
(b)
Sectoral leadership and action: I am assigning responsibility for nurturing
this community-based engagement by explicitly challenging certain
sectors, organizations and leaders.
Elected officials
Faith community
Corporate community
Youth
Educators
Organized labor
The media
Others??
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(c)
Community leadership and action: Community-based workplans to be
developed by local partnerships, reporting to their communities. [One
America Partnerships?]
(d)
Federal leadership and action:
Strengthening the Civil Rights Commission and its state partners. A
network of means to monitor the roles and activities of political leaders,
corporate leaders, civic leaders, the media.
[An ongoing Federal council or other "follow-on entitity"]
Chapter 8. Conclusion
8.1.
Reprise
8.2.
Personalized examples of how previous presidents chose to move forward,
and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the
eyes of the world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere
participants in the history of this struggle. We must be the authors of that history.
Our standing in the hearts of our children and grandchildren; what we owe them.
We must lighten their burdens and brighten their futures, each and all.
8.3.
Closing message. Response to a letter from a grade school child. A prayer.
***
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Version 6-2c
ONE AMERICA?
THE PRESIDENT'S REPORT TO THE NATION
ON RACIAL JUSTICE AND OPPORTUNITY IN THE 21st CENTURY
Note: This is only an evolving outline of ideas and subjects. It is not an
effort to capture the appropriate language with which to communicate the
President's ideas to a general audience. It is only intended to guide
research, outreach and deliberation.
Introduction: One America in the 21st Century
A.
Opening:
1.
Why, as the last President of the 20th century, I launched this initiative.
America faces several challenges at home and abroad as we enter the
new century; Among these is the challenge of making the most of the
opportunities created by our growing diversity, while avoiding the
tragic mistakes we've seen too often in our nation's history and around
the globe.
No subject has been more vexing - threatening our domestic
tranquility, testing the sincerity of our deepest civic values, shaping
our public policies and even our most private thoughts about one
another. The difficulty and pervasiveness of the problem perhaps
explains the temptation to let things drift along, absent an explosive
crisis. Perhaps there's been too much of that in recent decades. But we
cannot afford that any longer, if we ever could.
[Draw on several letters received by POTUS or FLOTUS, and several
events or people they have met; showing the continuing importance of
this struggle in personal terms - both good and bad stories, including
both painful situations and seeds of hope.]
2.
What we mean by "race"
Since 1960s, greater complexity of "race" and identity; historical
contingency; beyond black-white; ambivalence in the Hispanic
context; "white" ethnics; Arab-Americans; Jews; Native Americans
and the interrelationships of race, culture, sovereignty.
Intragroup heterogeneity and even tensions
B.
Personal context
1.
Observations from 1950s and 1960s: horror and hope
Personal impressions of the Civil Rights movement - what it meant to
me then, and what it means to me today.
[Use personal stories.]
2.
Gubernatorial experiences - not a record of accomplishments, but a few
examples of challenge, struggle, failure or success, as a window on the
post- civil rights movement evolution of our nation's work on the issue.
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Voting rights/districting; hiring/affirmative action? The politics of
race.
Comparing notes with other political and civic leaders in the 1970s and
1980s.
C.
Summary of core themes and vision
1.
Vision of community: Celebration of our diversity, not mere tolerance of
our differences; building inclusive communities and organizations to take
advantage of the benefits and strengths that flow from diversity.
(Examples from forums, letters, etc.)
2.
Vision of opportunity: Opportunity enjoyed so equally that there is no
discernable legacy of slavery, colonization or conquest; of Jim Crow or
internment. (Examples from forums, letters, etc.)
3.
Vision of responsibility: Responsibilities of citizenship; responsibility to
reach out to others; responsibility to take advantage of opportunitites.
(Examples from forums, letters, etc.)
4.
We must do this for our children and their children. We must do this to
honor those who have sacrificed over the generations in earlier battles to
put our sacred civic values into practice. And I believe we must do this to
honor the God who has created us all equal, and blessed our nation in so
many countless ways.
D.
The Advisory Board and its work
1.
What has been accomplished since launching this initiative - the work of
the Advisory Board, the engagement of scores of thousands of people in
communities and organizations around the nation.
2.
Appreciation to the Advisory Board, and to the many people throughout
the nation who responded to our call to engage in a national conversation
on race, or to redouble their efforts already underway.
E.
What I hope to accomplish with this report/book:
1.
Authoritative social scientific background information on demographics,
disparities, discrimination, and intergroup relations;
2.
My vision of One America in the 21st century, and why it is preferable to
some alternatives that are implicit in public discourse, and how the
motivation for that vision is rooted in our history and cherished ideals;
3.
Some models or examples of how we can constructively engage one
another on hard questions, and the promising practices that may build
bridges connecting people across lines of color and class;
4.
A workplan for the nation - not just what the Federal government should
undertake this year and next, but what all of us can do together and
individually. Federal, state and local governments; private sector and
voluntary sector; in our public lives and our personal lives, to help build
One America with racial and ethnic justice
F.
Some highlights of this report to the American people:
1.
Headlines from promising practices and dialog efforts (chapter 5)
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2.
Headlines from the workplan: enforcement, education, criminal justice,
health disparities, history initiative (chapter 7)
3.
Headlines from leadership/next steps (chapter 8)
G.
Closing message to the Congress, and to the American People.
***
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Executive Summary
Chapter 1.
Where Is America On Race, And Where Are We Going?
1.1.
The salience of race and ethnicity in our everyday lives
(a)
How it intrudes on us in various ways, explicitly or subtly.
For some of us, our communities are homogenous and we live in a
racial or ethnic enclave with exposure to racial differences almost
entirely through mass media. Others of us have constant reminders
about the differences in America.
For example
[real stories
]
(b)
Social policy history : The broad sweep of social policies, and what
conclusions to draw about their effectiveness
Narrative starting with Myrdal, through Kerner Commission, to
Clinton Inauguration. Organized to focus on:
Hinging events, or milestones in 5-7 key policy sectors:
antidiscrimination law; political rights and participation; education;
economic opportunity (jobs, training, economic development);
criminal justice; housing; health
Weaving through the narrative a half dozen conceptual themes that
are the framework for the narrative - how are ideas have evolved,
and our struggles been shaped, with reference to:
Federalism - what's the proper role of different levels of
government;
Public-private-personal? Includes the roles of market and
family; includes the nature redistributive norms - as in the
establishment of food stamps, or SSI; EITC, but not a
guaranteed income or job; etc.
Targeting by race or income, versus broad-based programs
Black-white, versus more complex multiculturalism (this
includes rising consciousness about Native American issues, as
well as burgeoning Hispanic and Asian populations)
Norms of tolerance, inclusion and antidiscrimination
Pivotal figures: include within the narrative some examples of
individuals who have made a big difference - Eisenhower at Little
Rock; MLK at Montgomery and Birmingham; Nixon on Native
Americans; etc.
Stressing the nature of the choices we faced and made at each juncture.
(c)
Demographic history and trends
Population and population characteristics
Intermarriage; multiracial families, the census category controversy
(d)
Disparities, and what we know about the effectiveness of past policies
intended to help.
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A survey of sectoral conditions today: Socioeconomic indicators:
income, wealth, business ownership, employment, education, housing,
health, criminal justice variables, benefits program participation
The sectoral [drawing on CEA Factbook and on the NAS/NRC study]
[An especially detailed look at education and economic mobility]
Voting and civic engagement - voting rights, voter registration and
participation, elected officials, other dimensions of participation
(e)
Discrimination: authoritative data using various methodologies: How
much discrimination is there?
Definitions: not looking at mere disparities; considering both
traditional econometric methods and the compelling evidence from
"testers"
Sectors: employment, housing, retail sales, credit, business/contracting
(f)
Intergroup relations: how integrated are our lives, how have attitudes and
stereotypes changed, etc.
One community, or many?
What is the significance of group separation or segregation? Why does
it matter? Connection to the vision of One America; separateness of
our communities leading to divisions in perceptions and even values,
with implications for our broader sense of community and our ability
to live and work together.
-
Patterns of residential, school and occupational segregation; trends
and historical comparisons
-
Religious life
-
Other dimensions of social life
Attitudes: tolerance, etc., over time.
-
Racial attitudes
-
Ethnic attitudes, e.g., Arab-Americans facing discrimination
(g)
Summation:
The effects of race on our civic discourse: how race poisons politics
and policymaking, overtly or subtly; examples of how not to address
issues of opportunity, responsibility and community.
Most salient elements of progress to date, and some missteps,
shortcomings
-
Policies that have made the problem harder, at least in some
respects: [e.g., housing, transportation policies that have fueled
racial and economic isolation]
-
Policies that have importantly helped [e.g., antidiscrimination
laws, income maintenance programs
Our most challenging work ahead
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Chapter 2.
More Than A Dream: Racial Justice and Opportunity in the 21st
Century
[The President's vision of One America with racial and ethnic justice in
the 21st century, and why his vision is preferable to competing visions.
Seeking clarity about our value commitments and ambitions for One
America. This pivotal section is an elaboration of the framework sketched
in speeches and in the introduction to this Report. The section should be
significantly historical, illustrating the conceptual points with references to
historical struggles and statements.
What follows in analytical material - a start for eliciting the President's
views and theories. The book would not be written or organized in this
manner.]
*
2.1.
Models: There several ways to think about national identity, and about racial
and ethnic justice, each of which has valuable and even compelling claims on
our values, but which ultimately are inadequate and/or unattainable:
(a)
Neutral formalism: Eliminate race-conscious barriers in law; achieve
"colorblindness" in official and personal conduct: Martin Luther King,
Jr.'s "I have a dream" formulation, as commonly misconstrued.
Clear problems as an instrumental prescription (MLK acknowledged
this in his support for race-conscious measures), but what about as
ideal, as vision?
Seems unattainable if there are group-correlated inequalities because
these will fuel stereotypes and, in turn, be incorporated into attitudes,
and from these into private practices and public policies.
(b)
Assimilation, with racial differences vanishing in importance.
May imply a radical kind of assimilation, in which I have to give up
too much of who I am in order to be accepted in this One America.
That's unacceptable.
(c)
Celebratory pluralism: Racial differences as analogous to religious
differences.
Religious diversity analogy:
-
America is the most religious of industrialized nations, but we do
not worship in the same way; indeed, some scholars assert that
religion flourishes precisely because of religious freedom.
We do not merely tolerate this diversity, we celebrate it. It is one
aspect of America about which we are intensely proud.
Fine, but needs an element of distributive justice as well.
(d)
Rawlsian distributive justice: Definition: no discernable evidence that
America had a history of slavery, conquest or colonialism.
For example, no inherited legacy of disadvantage as reflected today in,
for example, the incredible wealth disparities.
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Fine formulation, but incomplete. It needs an element to ensure
community; interactions across lines of differences. Even if it were
possible, we wouldn't want fully equal individuals separated from one
other by walls and distance.
We care about integration. And we should. Because
(e)
Clintonian Synthesis, and its basic implications for policy and practice
The sources of our values
Civic sources - Declaration of Independence, etc.
-
Family and communal sources
-
Spiritual sources
The connection between national identity and our conception of justice
What a just One America should and will look like.
Why I believe we can and must do it.
(f)
Beyond the Black-White paradigm. What that means, and why it is
necessary.
The distinctiveness created by colonization, conquest and culture; the
importance, and limits, of the old model.
Immigration policy and attitudes - distinguishing a principled pursuit
of One America from divisive and even nativist proposals.
Language, culture and subgroup identity - especially the issue of
bilingual education and English acquisition.
The special challenges of Native American justice. Tribal sovereignty:
what it is, and what is must be in the 21st century.
Chapter 3.
Wrestling Lessons: Constructive Engagement Of Our Vexing
Differences
3.1.
The unfinished agenda of combating discrimination, bigotry and exclusion:
(a)
How much does race still matter? And why?
What is discrimination, and how much of it is there?
-
How much observed disadvantage is fairly attributable to
discrimination or its lingering effects? (Includes discussion of the
"culture" critique.)
1
The purpose of this chapter: Using just a handful from the menu of topics below, model how we can face
up to some of the hardest questions dividing us in an honest and constructive way; teasing out the policy
implications of the values and vision by grappling with some questions that animate the national
conversation. Make use of short essays that will be contributed by a diverse group of "thinkers", leaders
and citizens; the essays will be separately published in a companion document.
List of topics for this chapter to be developed; the following items are among the menu of possibilities, for
POTUS selection. The book's discussion of each question would (i) respectfully note and engage a broad
range of views, searching for the "kernel of truth" in opposing positions; (ii) develop the President's view
on the matter by reference to the Vision presented in Chapter 4; (iii) sketch the practical implications for
public policies and private practices - with some of those implications detailed in later chapters of the
book.
C:\Documents\Book\book 6-2c.doc: 8/25/98
p.7
Absent specific discrimination, How important are diversity,
inclusion and integration as ideals, and as social policy objectives?
Why?
Profiling in the criminal justice system: where do we draw the line
between efficient allocation of resources, and impermissible
stereotyping?
When is a public policy battle, such as bilingual education or
affordable housing or welfare reform, a covert battle about color? And
when, in our civic discourse, must be face issues of race in order to
address issues of opportunity?
(b)
What about "apologizing" for slavery, conquest, and colonization?
3.2.
When we act in public and private life to close the opportunity gap, when is
racial targeting appropriate, and when not? What are the moral, practical and
legal considerations?
(a)
Since affirmative action is so controversial, should we abandon it?
[Recapitulation of "Mend it, don't end it."]
(b)
Public policies: with, or without, racial targeting?
3.3.
The new agenda of inclusion and opportunity:
(a)
Do we still care about integration? Why? What price, what burdens are we
willing to bear?
-
Education
-
Housing
(b)
Identity politics and ethnic enclaves
(c)
But can we overcome our differences, and agree on the agenda?
Clashes of interests - zero-sum competition
Clash of values
Clash of perceptions
Chapter 4.
Promising Practices: How To Build Bridges That Connect People
Across Lines of Color and Class
4.1.
Intro: the topic is examples of public and private efforts to promote racial
reconciliation and racial justice
(a)
We need important changes in public policies and private practices to
change the social and economic facts in people's lives, but policy
initiatives will founder and fail to command consensus unless build on a
foundation of moral and political agreement. That kind of agreement
requires that we feel more connected to one another, across our
differences. So we need promising practices for how people can come
together to improve understanding and, ultimately, to make a difference.
(b)
Criteria for making these judgments - although not every practice fits with
every criterion:
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Does it help build bridges across lines of class and color?
Is it action that improves people's lives, or does it lead to such action?
Is it sustainable over time, and can it be used by others elsewhere?
4.2.
The importance of effective dialogue
(a)
The work of the Advisory Board and its staff;
Description of the guidelines for effective conversations on race, as
developed by PIR staff in consultation with experts and practitioners
(b)
Examples of promising dialogue programs
Examples and descriptions from different sectors: government,
business, the media, the faith community, education, nonprofit sector,
etc. And in different modalities: dialogue; education efforts; service
efforts; action efforts, etc. (Excerpting from the web site and from a
separate, detailed compendium volume we will publish)
-
City Year
-
Americorps
-
Search for Common Ground
-
Bell Atlantic, Levi Straus (?)
-
A World of Difference
-
Students Talking About Race (STAR)
-
Etc.
(c)
Unpromising practices: what doesn't work, and makes our problems worse
4.3.
Establishing an ongoing program to recognize and replicate promising
practices
(a)
Announce (pre-cooked) creation of a private program analogous to the
Ford Foundation-funded Kennedy School program on Innovations in
Government, which produces annual awards and publishes case studies
(b)
[Anticipate discussion of leadership in chapter 7]
(c)
Conclusion
Chapter 5.
The Record Of The Clinton-Gore Administration
[Organized as historical narrative, rather than laundry list; programmatic
details from NEC/DPC/agencies in an appendix. Presented to show debate
and struggle (within the Administration and with Congress) over the
conceptualization the Opportunity Agenda and the appropriate means; an
overlay of debate about the role of government generally, and of the
Federal government in particular.]
Chapter 6.
A Workplan For Our Nation
[Workplan organized by sectors/subject matter; and including within each,
federal, state, local, private and personal elements. To repeat: This is not
just about the federal government, and not just about government. Few
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items will have FY 2000 budget impacts. Several will have "down
payments" represented in Administration accomplishments and earlier
proposals.]
6.1.
Education
(a)
The foundation for our workplan:
What are the facts?
What are our value-based commitments? [equality norms to spur gap-
closing, as related to the Vision chapter]
Who has what rights; who has what responsibilities? public versus
private roles
Rethinking the federal role for the 21st century?
(b)
Closing the gap in opportunity
Resources: teachers; curriculum; infrastructure
Expectations and support: high expectations by teachers; parental
involvement
Governance and accountability
(c)
Closing the gap in achievement
Standards and excellence: testing; appropriate stakes and
accountability
Attainment: high school graduation; college graduation; etc.
Values and hopes: closing the gap in aspirations; universalizing the
credo of education as the gateway
(d)
Combating racial and economic isolation
Reduce segregation and racial isolation among schools
Reduce segregation within schools - inappropriate tracking and
overrepresentation in special education
Promote inclusion in higher education
(e)
Combating the twinned calamities of racial isolation and poverty
concentration, in schools and in housing.
(f)
[Notes: LEP/bilingual issues handled in part as resource issues and in part
as achievement issues.]
6.2.
Economic Development and Job Opportunities
(a)
Closing the jobs gap
Job creation and community economic development
The distribution of job opportunities, and access to them
(b)
Putting financial markets to work for all
(c)
Attacking our legacy of wealth and asset inequality
(b)
Building a stronger entrepreneurial class -initiatives in business formation
and development (apart from government contracting programs, which
deserve continued support to remedy discrimination where it exists).
6.3.
Criminal Justice and Community Security
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(a)
Community Security: reducing criminal victimization in communities of
color, and establishing the right to a live in safety.
[includes combating the endemic drugs]
(b)
Youth focus: Keep young people out of the criminal justice system
Just as we invest in child nutrition to save lives, we must find a way to
make the interventions needed to prevent the reckless or desperate turn
to crime
(c)
Strengthen fairness and trust in the criminal justice system
Combat improper use of racial profiling
Zero tolerance for police misconduct and brutality
Eliminate racical discrimination and unjustified disparities in
incarceration, sentencing and imposition of the death penalty
Increase diversity and representation in the administration of criminal
justice.
6.4.
Health Care and Strengthening Families
(a)
Health disparities initiative
(b)
The insurance gap
(c)
Child welfare and social services
(d)
[Fatherhood?]
6.5.
Indian Country
(a)
Introduction: Special status and sovereignty; history
(b)
[Reprise of the subchapter themes above, as applied to Native Americans:]
education
economic development and jobs
criminal justice
health care and strengthening families
cultural survival and integrity
governance and sovereignty
6.6.
Enforcing our Antidiscrimination Laws and Values
(a)
Strengthening the legal framework for opportunity - shaping federal and
state civil rights law and law enforcement to promote educational and
economic opportunity
(b)
Strengthening law enforcement -- federal and state, public and private;
increasing voluntary compliance with antidiscrimination laws and
principles
(c)
Data and research:
(d)
Authoritative time-series data measuring the extent of discrimination in
various sectors and regions, using both statistical and "tester"
methodologies.
We must be able to answer the questions, "How much discrimination
is there, and are we making progress?"
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6.7.
Citizenship and Civic Life
(a)
Renewing democracy as a component of healing America.
Voter registration and participation as civic obligation
Searching out and stimulating new forms and mechanisms of
participation, because building community is a step toward building
One America.
(b)
Naturalization and immigrant integration
(c)
The news and entertainment media
Enormous power for good of ill; limited accountability to government
because of the First Amendment, which if of course as it should be.
But the media are accountable to us in a different sense, and have both
rights and responsibilities. What are those in connection with the
struggle for a racially just One America?
-
Cf., the issue violence in the media
(d)
School and university curricula
Bold initiative to expand/improve the teaching of history, viewing the
study of history as instruction in dealing with difference; cf.
NDEA/Sputnik.
More generally, curricular improvements so that Americans
understand more about Americans
(e)
Bold initiative to enlist the faith community in this work, tapping not just
their resources in free basements and mailing lists, but their spiritual
resources.
(f)
Research needs
Missing data - under-analyzed groups and subgroups, especially
Native Americans and Asians.
Authoritative tracking of disparities to mark our progress into the next
century.
Periodic report card [by the "follow-on entity"]
Chapter 7.
Leadership For One America
7.1.
Call to action
(a)
In general terms: Holding ourselves accountable for the quality of our
leadership: creating effective watchdog and feedback mechanisms.
I am issuing a call to action, appealing for the recruitment of a cadre of
leaders from all sectors who will dedicate themselves to learning,
teaching and practicing the difficult tasks of building One America for
the 21st century.
7.2.
A plan to sustain and expand the efforts now underway in communities and
organizations around the country.
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(a)
Sectoral leadership and action: I am assigning responsibility for nurturing
this community-based engagement by explicitly challenging certain
sectors, organizations and leaders.
-
Elected officials
-
Faith community
-
Corporate community
-
Youth
-
Educators
-
Organized labor
-
The media
-
Leadership organizations within minority and non-minority ethnic
communities, e.g., Native Americans, Latinos, Italian-Americans
-
Others??
(b)
Community leadership and action: Community-based workplans to be
developed by local partnerships, reporting to their communities. [One
America Partnerships?]
(c)
Federal leadership and action: What the Federal government's ongoing
commitment will be
-
Strengthening the Civil Rights Commission and its state partners.
A network of means to monitor the roles and activities of political
leaders, corporate leaders, civic leaders, the media.
-
within the federal government - federal employees and agencies as
leaders/models
-
[The "follow-on entity" within Executive Office of the
President/WHO]
7.3.
Conclusion
(a)
The critical ingredient of leadership - not just from politicians, or even
primarily from them. People in all walks of life, in dramatic and quiet
ways.
(b)
Awards Program for promising practices (see chapter 4)
[Modeled after either the American Civic League "All American City"
program, or the Ford Foundation-Kennedy School award program for
Innovations in Government."]
(c)
How these private/civic leadership efforts are to be sustained over time, so
there will momentum will build, not flag.
Chapter 8.
Conclusion
8.1.
Reprise
8.2.
Personalized examples of how previous presidents chose to move forward,
and others didn't. Tragedies seeded or averted. Opportunities seized and
squandered. Optimism about the our ideals and our spirit. Our standing in the
eyes of the world, and in the judgment of historians. We must not be mere
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participants in the history of this struggle. We must be the authors of that
history. Our standing in the hearts of our children and grandchildren; what we
owe them. We must lighten their burdens and brighten their futures, each and
all.
8.3.
Closing message. Response to a letter from a grade school child. A prayer.
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