Racial Discrimination In The U.S. Then & Now From Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. - Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights U.S. Department of Justice On August 3rd 2001 the new Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice, Ralph Boyd Jr. gave a speech to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva Switzerland. In the speech, he summed up the some of the racial progress that has occurred in the US and the differences between 1940 compared with today. We found the changes very interesting and so we are publishing the highlights of that speech here. "I am Ralph Boyd, Jr., Assistant Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice, in charge of the Civil Rights Division. Appearing here today is one of my first official actions - it is a profoundly important one and I am deeply honored to be called upon to do it. As I speak to you today, we approach the 38th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic "I have a dream" speech. Dr. King delivered that inspiring address at the conclusion of the March on Washington in August, 1963, a seminal event in the campaign for racial justice in America. He spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a memorial dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President who ended slavery and restored our torn union. This memorial symbolizes our nation's historic struggle for racial equality, a struggle that many Americans and visitors to America are reminded of daily when they pass by the memorial and move about our nation's capital. During his 1963 speech, Dr. King shared his dream that "one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" In his dream, Dr. King envisioned the day when his four children would "live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." Although Dr. King has been gone for more than 30 years, his dream remains a vital, necessary, and enduring part of our collective vision of America. It is a plain and simple - and yet eloquent and powerful - statement, reflecting the hope we Americans have for our nation. It expresses what life should be like for all people regardless of whether they are of African, Hispanic, Asian or other descent, no matter what their color or place of origin. It is also a dream that, with the passing of time and the persistent efforts of so many committed people in America, is becoming a concrete reality: • The 1940 Census showed that six out of ten African-American women were household employees, while a large majority of African-American men worked as unskilled laborers, sharecroppers, or domestic servants. In contrast, today African-Americans - as well as people of other ethnic groups - serve in significant numbers at the highest levels of government, police our communities in partnership with their constituents, teach in our nation's most prestigious colleges and universities, heal the sick, manage large corporations, and report the news to our fellow citizens. • In 1940, there were only 300 African-American engineers in all of America; today, there are more than 60,000. • In 1940, there were less than 8,000 black nurses; today there are over 165,000. • In 1940, there were barely 4,000 African-American physicians; today there are more than 20,000. • In 1940, there were only 620 African-Americans who were employed as reporters, editors or authors; now there are over 20,000. • In 1940, there was not a single black law enforcement officer in the five "Deep South" states, even though nearly 5 million African-Americans called these states their home. Today, there are thousands of African-American policemen in those states. Included among their ranks are many chiefs of police and other senior police officials. • There are now nearly 450,000 African-American elementary and secondary-school teachers in our country, and nearly 150,000 black social workers. And it comes as no surprise that with better jobs comes meaningfully higher family incomes. For example, in 1940, a staggering 87 percent of black families in America lived below the poverty line. Today, approximately 75 percent now live above poverty. Although this is a significant and compelling turnabout, we recognize that we still have serious work to do in our efforts to achieve equality of economic opportunity in America. The American political landscape likewise has changed dramatically over the past several decades. In 1968, there were only 3 black mayors in the entire Southern part of our country; by 1996, there were 290. As late as 1970, there were no African-Americans holding elective office in state government in Alabama, Arkansas, or South Carolina. In four other states - Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Carolina - there was only one black member of the state legislature. By 1993, those states had a total of 312 black state legislators, and were represented by 16 African-Americans in the United States Congress. Between 1967 and 1993, African-Americans won mayoral elections in 87 cities with populations of 50,000 or more. Two-thirds of those were elected in cities in which blacks comprise a minority of the voter eligible population. Over the last 40 years, civil rights in America have undergone a transformation. In a very real sense we have progressed from aspiration to expectation. More than half of our population today has never lived in an America without the protection of major civil rights laws, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These and other important federal civil rights laws are intended to protect Americans of all races from racial discrimination perpetuated not only by government, but also by individuals and private parties, particularly in such areas as employment, education, public accommodations, voting, housing, lending, and contracting. Dr. King looked forward to the day when, as he described it, "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers" and say "Free at last." Although we still have important work to do, our schools are largely desegregated, and blacks attend college at nearly six times the rate they did in 1960. Thirty-four years ago, our Supreme Court struck down laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Once upon a time, an African-American male could not even be seen with a Caucasian female without fearing for his life. Today, interracial couples flourish throughout the land. Our Census Bureau just recently reported over 3 million interracial couples in the United States. We are becoming a truly blended society. In fact, my wife and I preside over just such a blended family, a family which includes three birth children and two adopted African-American children. I am happy to say that we are no longer that unusual. We are Americans, and my family looks - in many respects - like America. This record of improvement and increasing equality of opportunity has not gone unnoticed. A recent Washington Post poll indicates that African-American parents are even more optimistic than parents of other ethnicities that their children will enjoy an even higher standard of living than they do. These numbers are a healthy sign of progress and of the expectations that Americans have that their civil rights will be protected, and that, over time, hard work can pay off, for people of all races. In sum, there is considerable good news emanating from the century-old struggle of the United States against racism and bigotry. Our record of protecting civil rights and fighting discrimination is an increasingly strong one, and one that those of us who are pledged to uphold and enforce our nation's civil rights laws are committed to improving even more. Of course, our nation can do better. The fight to eradicate racism requires continued and constant vigilance. We continue our fight to achieve racial equality in both educational opportunity and achievement, in access to meaningful economic opportunities, and also in access to needed social and health care services. As I said, we can do better, and we will do better. This Administration, this President, and those whom he has enlisted to help him in this effort are fully engaged and fully committed to this endeavor. Our purpose today is to summarize for the Committee the legislative, judicial and administrative measures that are already in place in the United States, and that are intended to advance the goal of achieving a racially and ethnically integrated society that provides equal, meaningful opportunities for all of our people. I will also outline for the Committee some of the steps that the United States will undertake over the course of the next several years to further ensure that all people in America are, in the words of Article 2(2) of the Convention, guaranteed the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. We also look forward to answering the Committee's questions, and, later, to receiving the Committee's recommendations for further improvements in our country's civil rights record. Where we still need to make progress. Notwithstanding this progress, there obviously are areas where we must redouble our efforts. Racial discrimination continues to be a problem that must be confronted in our country. Race is too often a factor in decisions related to whether to rent a home to a person of another racial or ethnic group, whether to hire an applicant for a job, and whether to stop and question a person suspected of committing a crime. As U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, my job is to help lead the fight against such discrimination, and I pledge to do so vigorously. Moreover, while there have been dramatic gains in the education levels achieved by racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, there are still problems that we must address. Today, nearly 70 percent of inner-city fourth graders are unable to read at a basic reading level, according to national tests. As of 1999, only 56% of Hispanics graduated from high school. Although almost one-half of African-Americans in their early twenties have at one time been enrolled in college, only 1 out of 7 actually graduates. More than 50,000 Native American children attend schools managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, an increase of 25 percent since 1987. Although more Native American children are now attending BIA schools, they often are doing so in physical environments that are among the worst in our nation. Clearly, we have real work to do on these issues if we are to ensure that all of America's children have equal and meaningful access to an excellent education. Education is essential for people to be able to participate fully in our society, and to enjoy the benefits of that participation. Meaningful gaps in income between racial and ethnic groups in America stubbornly persist, and disparities in the relative health of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds continue to be a reality of our nation's public health profile. Furthermore, communities in which majority of the residents are racial or ethnic minorities also continue to be victimized by crime at a disproportionate rate. In Conclusion I began by referring to Dr. King's dream. As a nation, and as individuals, we have made demonstrable progress towards realizing that dream since Dr. King's death. However, we are not satisfied that we have fulfilled our goal of achieving racial justice, which Dr. King's dream represents. Therefore, this Administration and its responsible officials are committed to redoubling the effort to eliminate all discrimination - whether it is based on race, ethnicity, disability, or the like, and whether intentional or simply a consequence of the soft bigotry of low expectations. The United States government cannot, however, accomplish this alone. We must call upon our citizens, our businesses, our institutions of higher learning, our places of worship, and indeed, all people of good faith, to be part of this effort. Our record is a strong one, but there is still more work to be done. We recognize this, and it is in this spirit that we look forward to hearing the Committee's ideas and thoughts and considering your recommendations as to how the United States can improve its civil rights record as we implement our country's civil rights agenda for the new century - one which holds real promise for the advancement of the human rights of all Americans."

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