On Race, Shame, and Action in Illinois

From Race in the Recession,

“In Illinois in 2007, African American and Hispanic people made up 29.4% of the population but 54.4% of the population living in poverty. The 2007 Illinois unemployment rate was 5%. The unemployment rate for African Americans in Illinois was 10.7% and 5.6% for Hispanics. The Illinois poverty rate was 12%. For Hispanics in Illinois it was 17.6%. 28% for African Americans (2008 Report on Illinois Poverty).”

From May 19th to June 6th 2008, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Dr. Doudou Diene came to the United States to monitor, advise and make public reports on the human rights situation in this country. Doug Schenkelberg, of The From Poverty To Opportunity Campaign, provided testimony about the intersection of poverty and race in Illinois when Dr. Diene came to visit Chicago. The official report (pdf) of this mission, which was released on May 8th, hits on many of the themes we spoke to in our testimony last year. It also carries a series of recommendations for the US to make to greater moves against racism, marginalization and oppression within its borders:

Four Key Recommendations:

1: Congress should establish a bipartisan commission to evaluate the progress and failures in the fight against racism as well as the continued process of resegregation in housing and education, and to develop responses to these trends;
2: The government should reassess existing legislation on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance with two primary guidelines: the overlap between poverty and race or ethnicity; and the connection between fighting racism and the realization of a democratic, egalitarian and interactive multiculturalism and stronger community relations;
3: Government should intensify efforts to enforce civil rights laws;
4: Government should clarify to law enforcement agencies and officials the obligation of equal treatment and the prohibition of racial profiling.

In light of the continuing economic distress this country is experiencing, it seems unlikely that things have gotten better since the 2008 Report on Illinois Poverty came out... and things haven’t.

According to the 2009 Report on Illinois Poverty shows that while some progress has been made… it really isn’t much.

Poverty
The number of African Americans Illinoisans living in poverty has decreased by about twelve thousand and the percentage of the total African American Illinoisan population in poverty has decreased by half a percentage point.

African Americans make up 14.7% of the Illinois population but are 33.3% of Illinoisans in poverty.
Latinos make up 14.9% of the Illinois population but are 19.9% of Illinoisans in poverty.

Keep in mind that these numbers are from the 2007 census data, the most recent data available.

According to the Illinois Department of Employment Services, the African American unemployment rate was twice that of Caucasians in 2008.

Education

The percentage of African Americans in Illinois with less than a high school diploma is 19.20%. For Latinos the percentage is 40.9%. Only 9% of Caucasians have less than a high school diploma.

While 20.5% of Caucasian Illinoisans have a bachelor’s degree, only 11.6% of African Americans and 7.7% of Latinos can say the same.


After reading these sobering numbers, keep two things in mind:

1) one of the core beliefs of the Campaign:

Inequality and discrimination play a central role in the existence of poverty.

2) When the federal government ratifies an international human rights treaty, such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, states, like Illinois, are obligated to follow the terms of those treaties.


Now, with that in mind, this series of recommendations made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism are just that: recommendations. But, in the world of international human rights, the most powerful instrument is shame. Shame is what brings about change. Shame is what makes those in power heed to recommendations such as these. Shame is power.

But if no one knows about his documentation, if no one talks about the recommendations, there will be no shame. Shame requires many eyes. And unless we actively work to train those eyes on the unacceptable legacy of racism in this country, this report will have no power.


And that is why we are putting this report out to you.

There are over two thousand individual endorsers and almost three hundred organizational endorsers of the From Poverty To Opportunity Campaign. They – you - are the eyes of this Campaign. You are the ones that can get others to look at this report and look at the latest Poverty Report and press for action.

Illinois, the focus of the Campaign, has the same responsibilities to address the impact of racism as the nation as a whole. We must hold our state, our government, our communities, and each other accountable for making progress on these recommendations.

Even if the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Race means little to you, remember that the reality of the intersection of poverty and race are important to you. Remember that while the American government cannot truly be held accountable by the United Nations for paying attention to these recommendations, the American and Illinois government can be held accountable by us.

Here is one thing you can do right now:

Support progressive tax reform in Illinois that protects those in poverty while generating the revenue needed to address the states structural deficit and the basic human rights of its’ residents.

We need to ask our leaders to make the hard decisions so we can make real progress on these issues. That is our responsibility and theirs. That is how we use our collective power as a Campaign and as residents of Illinois to make change happen and shame go away.