Gotham Gazette -
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/civilrights/20080111/3/2400
Race Matters in New York
by Andy Humm
11 Jan 2008
Most New Yorkers think of racism as yesterday's news. They prefer to
think we have moved beyond not just the city's dependence on slavery,
its attempts to remain neutral in the Civil War so it could keep
trading with the Confederacy, and Draft Riots that saw black people
strung up from lampposts, but also the kind of contemporary blatant
racial attacks that turn thousands of protesters out in the streets
led by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
When the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee is
Harlem's own Charlie Rangel and Time Warner and Merrill Lynch -- not
to mention the city itself -- have been led by black men (Richard
Parsons, Stanley O'Neal, and David Dinkins respectively), most people
think that overt racism is a thing of the past or, at worst, an
isolated problem -- especially when an African American named Barack
Obama could very well become the next president of the United States.
But evidence to the contrary persists. Just ask yourself who is
homeless in New York, who the beggars are on the street and who does
the lowest wage and hardest jobs from checking your groceries and
emptying bedpans to cleaning your office.
The report from the Urban Justice Center's Human Rights Project goes
beyond such anecdotal evidence. Presented at a forum in mid-December
the study documents how even in multicultural New York, we have a
long, long way to go before race no longer matters.
The report, "Race Realities in New York City," covers employment,
health, criminal justice, immigration, education, voting rights,
domestic violence, housing, and child welfare. The study by leaders of
non-governmental organizations was prepared under the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, a
human rights treaty that the United States has ratified. Under the
terms of that agreement, the Bush administration issued a report
earlier this year on how it is dealing with racial disparities in the
United States, but the Urban Justice Center cited the thinness of that
official report, especially for failing to note "the government's
disgraceful response to Hurricane Katrina" or the issue of police
brutality. "Moreover," the center report says, "despite persistent
racial discrimination that affects thousands of New Yorkers, the U.S.
report contains very little New York City-specific information."
The Report's Findings
The center's 131-page report is an attempt to supplement that. And in
doing so, it presents a stark picture of racial disparities. For
example, it notes that "98 percent of 17,000 children in foster care
in New York City are black and Latino." It also makes note of what it
calls the "school to prison pipeline," which it describes as a
"nationwide system of policies that pushes students from the school
system into the juvenile justice system."
To start with, students of color are disproportionately suspended for
the same infractions: 8.3 percent of all black students, 4.8 percent
of Latinos and 2.5 percent of whites in the 2001 school year according
to a recent report by Elizabeth Sullivan, "Deprived Of Dignity:
Degrading Treatment And Abusive Discipline In New York And Los Angeles
Public Schools" from the National Economic and Social Rights
Initiative.
In addition, according to the Urban Justice Center, "In 2006, 43
percent of black students and 41 percent of Latino students in New
York City graduated on time, compared to 67 percent of white students
and 68 percent of Asian students."
In employment, African Americans, Latinos and Asians "make up 37
percent, 16 percent and 4 percent respectively of the city's
workforce," but hold just 18 percent of the senior and executive staff
positions.
African Americans and Latinos comprise about half the population of
the city, but account for 91 percent of those in jail. In 2006, half
of all police stops were of African Americans, 29 percent were of
Latinos and 11 percent were of whites. The report says that this
occurred despite the fact that "white suspects were 70 percent more
likely than black suspects to have a weapon."
The infant mortality rate is 10.5 per 1,000 live births for African
Americans and 5.9 for whites. Women of color have three times the HIV
rate of white women. The vast majority of domestic violence victims
are women of color. The list goes on and on.
Looking for Solutions
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was making his tour of the Far East when the
Urban Justice Center released the report. It hopes that he and the
City Council will adopt international human rights principles in
looking at whether New York City is plagued by racial disparities and
what it can do about it.
In light of persistent racial disparities, the Urban Justice Center,
in coalition with other groups, for several years has been trying to
pass a City Council bill that would go beyond protecting individuals
who can prove they have been illegally discriminated against and move
toward remedying systemic discrimination. The measure, called the
Human Rights in Government Operations Audit Law, would require city
agencies to "disaggregate data" at least on the basis of race and sex
and, when appropriate, on immigration status, sexual orientation and
gender identity.
The measure is currently stalled. Bill Perkins, who is now a state
senator, originally sponsored the bill. He has on called for getting
the 2009 mayoral candidates to support the measure. The bill's current
sponsor, Councilmember Helen Foster of the Bronx, in a passionate
address at the December forum, highlighted the racial dimensions of
everything from stadium siting to congestion pricing, which she said
would lead people to park their cars in Harlem and other neighborhoods
of color to avoid fees.
Andy Humm, a former member of the City Commission on Human Rights, has
been in charge of the civil rights topic page since its inception in
2001. He is co-host of the weekly "Gay USA" on Manhattan Neighborhood
Network (34 on Time-Warner; 107 on RCN) on Thursdays at 11 PM.
Gotham Gazette -
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/civilrights/20080111/3/2400
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