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