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Home My WebLink About2016-04-26_07_00_PM-HRRC_PacketAgenda Human Rights and Relations Commission City Of Edina, Minnesota Edina City Hall, Community Room 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 Tuesday, April 26, 2016 7:00 PM I.Call To Order II.Roll Call III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes A.March 22, 2016 Draft Meeting Minutes V.Community Comment During "Community Comment," the Board/Commission will invite residents to share relevant issues or concerns. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. The Chair may limit the number of speakers on the same issue in the interest of time and topic. Generally speaking, items that are elsewhere on tonight's agenda may not be addressed during Community Comment. Individuals should not expect the Chair or Board/Commission Members to respond to their comments tonight. Instead, the Board/Commission might refer the matter to sta% for consideration at a future meeting. VI.Reports/Recommendations A.2016 Work Plan Updates B.2017 Work Plan Ideas C.July Meeting Date Change VII.Correspondence And Petitions A.Correspondence VIII.Chair And Member Comments IX.Sta/ Comments X.Adjournment The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing ampli3cation, an interpreter, large-print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861 72 hours in advance of the meeting. Date: April 26, 2016 Agenda Item #: IV.A. To:Human Rights and Relations Commission Item Type: Minutes From:MJ Lamon, Project Coordinator Item Activity: Subject:March 22, 2016 Draft Meeting Minutes Action CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: Approve the Human Rights and Relations Commission meeting minutes from the March 22, 2016 regular meeting. INTRODUCTION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Minutes: HRRC March 22, 2016 Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: Click here to enter a date. Minutes City Of Edina, Minnesota Human Rights and Relations Commission Edina City Hall, Community Room March 22, 2016 7:00pm I. Call To Order Chair Arseneault called the March 22, 2016 Human Rights and Relations Commission meeting to order at 7:03 PM. II. Roll Call Answering roll call were Chair Arseneault, Commissioners Beringer, Edelson, Edwards, Martin, Rinn, Vecchio-Smith, and Student Commissioner Ramesh. Staff present: HRRC Staff Liaison MJ Lamon. Absent Members: Commissioner Kennedy and Student Commissioner Kearney. Commissioner Meek arrived at 7:07pm. III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda Motion by Vecchio-Smith to approve the Human Rights and Relations March 22, 2016 meeting agenda. Motion seconded by Rinn. Motion carried. IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes Motion by Rinn to approve the February 23, 2016 meeting minutes. Motion seconded by Vecchio-Smith. Motion carried. V. Special Recognitions And Presentations Introductions of new and current commissioners. VI. Community Comment None. VII. Reports/Recommendations A. 2016 Work Plan Updates 1) Days of Remembrance: Arseneault provided a marketing update for the 2016 Days of Remembrance event. Several commissioners volunteered for tasks required on the day of the event including set up, picking up coffee donation and transportation for our speaker. Reminder the event is being held on Sunday, April 10 at 1:00pm. Draft Minutes☒ Approved Minutes☐ Approved Date: Click here to enter a date. 2) CEDAW: Arseneault update the commission on the CEDAW resolution that passed by City Council at the City Council meeting on March 2, 2016. 3) Committee and working group roster: The commission reviewed the work plan and committee/working group roster. Commissioners volunteered to help with 2016 work plan initiatives. The following members volunteered to serve on a committee: Tom Oye: Sarah Rinn (Chair), Kristina Martin, Sid Ramesh DOR: Heather Edelson, Michelle Meek, Kristina Martin Human Rights City Designation: Heather Edelson, Cindy Edwards Community Conversations: Maggie Vecchio-Smith (Chair), Kristina Martin, Sarah Rinn Affordable Housing: Maggie Vecchio-Smith (Co-chair), Catherine Beringer (Co-chair) Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Michelle Meek Co-sponsor Community Conversations with Edina Public: Maggie Vecchio-Smith (Chair) Sharing Values, Sharing Community: Heather Edelson, Michelle Meek, Kristina Martin Website: Cindy Edwards (Chair) and Sid Ramesh Bias Offense Response Plan: Pat Arseneault (Chair), Cindy Edwards, Catherine Beringer, Michelle Meek B. Resident Request: An Edina resident contacted Staff Liaison Lamon following a Community Conversation session. Commissioner Rinn reported that the resident is hoping for a facilitated conversation or sharing event, as some residents residing in the apartment building would like to learn about their neighbors in hopes they can be better neighbors. There is no apparent urgency as the resident will be out of town for several months. The Community Conversations committee will take up the issue and possibly meet with the resident. C. Communication with City Council: Staff Liaison Lamon reviewed the communication with City Council document affirmed by City Council. VIII. Correspondence And Petitions Correspondence was received but not discussed. IX. Chair And Member Comments Several initiative ideas were shared for consideration on next year’s work plan. X. Staff Comments None. XI. Adjournment Motion by Rinn to adjourn the March 22, 2016 HRRC meeting at 8:26 PM. Motion seconded by Ramesh. Motion carried. Date: April 26, 2016 Agenda Item #: VI.A. To:Human Rights and Relations Commission Item Type: Report and Recommendation From:MJ Lamon, Project Coordinator Item Activity: Subject:2016 Work Plan Updates Discussion CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: Committee and Working Groups will provide reports and/or updates on their 2016 work plan initiatives. INTRODUCTION: Human Rights City Designation (Kennedy) Community Conversations Committee (Rinn/Vecchio-Smith/Martin) Community Conversations Report Dr. Hollie Resident Request Sharing Values, Sharing Community (Edelson/Martin/Meek) Joint work session with City Council: July 19, 2016 ATTACHMENTS: Description 2016 HRRC Approved Work Plan Committee and Working Group Roster Approved by City Council on December 15, 2015 39T39T Board/Commission: Human Rights and Relations Commission 2016 Annual Work Plan Proposal Initiative 1 ☐☐☐☐ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☒☒☒☒ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Tom Oye Award April 2016 $100 1. 1.Register Attendance at event 2. Track Nominations 3. 3. Update Website Progress Report: Initiative 2 ☐☐☐☐ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☒☒☒☒ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Days of Remembrance April 2016 $1,000 1. Audio/Video – requires 2 CTS staff to come to event and complete video follow up 2. Marketing Pieces – CTS request 3. Meeting Space – secure City Hall, tables, chairs, easels 4. Communication – Social media, press release 5. Attend event Most of the staff support required is required from the CTS department. The liaison helps facilitate the requests. With attending the event there are many hours of staff support for this event. Progress Report: Approved by City Council on December 15, 2015 Initiative 3 ☐☐☐☐ New Initiative ☒☒☒☒ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Human Rights City Designation December 2016 $200 1. Meeting Space – secure rooms 2. Audio/Video – CTS staff to assist with taping 3. Communication – social media, press release The HRRC is hoping to secure Human Rights City Designation in the year 2016. Progress Report: Initiative 4 ☐☐☐☐ New Initiative ☒☒☒☒ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Community Conversations December 2016 None 1. Meeting Space 2. Report to CC The Human Rights City Designation hopes to use some of the information gathered from these meetings. Progress Report: Initiative 5 ☐☐☐☐ New Initiative ☒☒☒☒ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Affordable Housing Expanding Opportunity 1. Continued education on affordable housing 2. Monitor status of Edina 3. Support current efforts December 2016 None 1. Administrative 2. Connecting with the committee as the topic arises at the City Most of this committee’s work has been surrounding and supporting the Edina Housing Foundations Affordable Housing Policy. They have also been in support and watching 66 West project. Progress Report: Initiative 6 ☒☒☒☒ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Approved by City Council on December 15, 2015 Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) • Resolution • Education November 2016 $500 1. Audio/Video – CTS staff to be at event 2. Marketing Pieces – CTS request 3. Meeting space – securing space 4. Communications Progress Report: Initiative 7 ☒☒☒☒ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Indigenous Peoples Day Designation September 2016 None 1. Admin support – submitting reports to City Council Progress Report: Initiative 8 ☒☒☒☒ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Co-sponsor Community Conversation with Edina Public Schools PCN (Parent Communication Network) October 2016 $150 1. Marketing pieces for event – CTS request 2. Communications Progress Report: Initiative 9 ☒☒☒☒ New Initiative ☐☐☐☐ Continued Initiative ☐☐☐☐ On-Going Initiative Target Completion Date Budget Required Staff Support Required (To be completed by Staff Liaison) Liaison Comments Sharing Values, Sharing Community • Community Event February 2016 $200 1. Marketing pieces for event – CTS request 2. Communications Progress Report: Ongoing Responsibilities Edina Resource Center/Edina Community Council – HRRC Rep September to May, 3 year term Website/Blog Approved by City Council on December 15, 2015 Bias Offense Response and Prevention Plan: Review annually HRRC Rep to Human Services Task Force Other Work Plan Ideas Considered for Current Year or Future Years Partnership with Health Commission on prescription drug abuse awareness. Food Justice Initiative Proposed Month for Joint Work Session (one time per year, up to 60 minutes): July 2016 (July 19, 2016) Council Comments: Work plans proposed by the Boards and Commissions were reviewed at the December 1 work session. The following changes/comments were made and are reflected on this work plan: • No changes • Concerned about staff time consumption (CTS and liaison) for initiatives. EHRRC ROSTER: Committees, Working Groups, Representatives to External Committees Responsibilities Chair Members Term Notes Committee Tom Oye Award Review nomination form & criteria to determine need for revision; Provide summary to commission; Update letters to nominees and nominators; Press Release / Ensure PSA will run on Ch. 16; Ensure we have presentation award; Present Award Sarah Rinn (2016) Kristina Martin Sid Ramesh Renew Annually Review of nomination criteria in summer; Preparations for media/PR/announcements in fall; Volunteer Award Ceremony in spring (usually April) Committee Days of Remembrance Create agenda & determine speakers; Request holocaust survivors videos to run on Ch. 16 throughout month of April; Ensure event is marketed and work with Communications Department for poster update and brochures; Distribution of posters; Secure refreshments for event; Send thank you notes to those involved Heather Edelson Kristina Martin Michelle Meek Caitlin Kearney Renew Annually Process usually starts in fall and ends in April to coincide with National Holocaust Museum Days of Remembrance Working Group Human Rights City Designation Ellen Kennedy (2016) Heather Edelson Cindy Edwards Colleen Feige Leslie Lagerstrom Terms end December 2016 Community member involvement Committee Community Conversations Review working Group's Report to Commission; determine course of action (f any) Maggie Vechhio- Smith (2016) Sarah Rinn Kristina Martin Terms end December 2016 Committee, Working Group, Event, Rep to External Committee EHRRC ROSTER: Committees, Working Groups, Representatives to External Committees Responsibilities Chair Members Term Notes Committee, Working Group, Event, Rep to External Committee Committee Monitor Affordable Housing Monitor the status of affordable housing projects and support current affordable housing efforts; Continue education on affordable housing Co-Chairs: Maggie Vecchio- Smith (2016) Catherine Beringer (2016) Terms end December 2016 Committee Convention of the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Drafting Resolution for Adoption by City Council Ellen Kennedy (2016)Term ended Initiatve completed March 2016 Committee Indigenous Peoples Day Designation Drafting Resolution for Adoption by City Council Ellen Kennedy (2016)Michelle Meek Terms end December 2016 Target completion date September 2016 Committee Co-sponsor Community Conversation with Edina Pubic Schools PCN (Parent Communication Network) Work with PCN to develop a topic of mutual interest Maggie Vechhio- Smith (2016) Term ends December 2016 Initiatve on hold Committee Sharing Values, Sharing Community Plan an event with leaders from several faith communities (Jewish/Muslim/Christian) to advocate and embrace social justice and understanding in our community Heather Edelson Kristina Martin Michelle Meek Terms end December 2016 EHRRC ROSTER: Committees, Working Groups, Representatives to External Committees Responsibilities Chair Members Term Notes Committee, Working Group, Event, Rep to External Committee HRRC Rep to External Committee Edina Community Council Council serves as Steering committee for Edina Family Services Collaborative; Attend meeting of the social service agencies serving Edina, the Edina school district, and other South Hennepin metro communities. Share information, participate in budget process N/A Ellen Kennedy (3 year term: 2015-16; 2016-2017; 2017- 2018) Renew every 3 years (before start of school year) Meets (7:30-9:00 a.m.) every other month during the school year (September - May) Committee HRRC Website Administration Annual and periodic review of website for content accuracy; Work with Staff Liaison as needed on changes or updates Cindy Edwards (2016)Sid Ramesh Renew Annually Committee Bias Offense Response Plan Annually review Bias Offense Response Plan; Work with City Manager and Chief Nelson Pat Arseneault (2016) Catherine Beringer Cindy Edwards Michelle Meek Renew Annually HRRC Rep to External Committee Human Services Taskforce Review requests for funding proposals from human service providers who serve Edina populations in need; Make recommendation to Council on the city's annual funding to providers N/A No rep needed for 2016 Renew biennially (at or before September Commission meeting) Taskforce comprised of reps from Boards and Commissions; Meets every other year (next in 2017), 4 times in Oct/early Nov to consider requests; Meets with Council to make recommendation 2015 EHRRC POTENTIAL INITIATIVES Responsibilities Commissioners Term NotesSubcommittee, Working Group, Event 2014 Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Tom Oye Award Commissioners Winnick, Seidman EHRRC Nominating Committee Commissioner Winnick Days of Remembrance/Genocide Awareness Commissioners Seidman, Arseneault, Cashmore, Kennedy Special Needs Awareness Commissioner TBD 2014 Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Bias Offense Response Plan Commissioners Winnick, Cashmore, HRRC Chair, City Manager, Edina Police Chief Community Conversations Commissioners Bigbee, Davis 2014 Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Edina Community Center Commissioner Winnick School District Equity Advisory Board Commissioner Bigbee Human Services Taskforce Commission 2014 Commissioner TBD Living Streets Commissioner Bigbee EHHRC Subcommittees / Working Groups / External Committees (with HRRC Reps) Meeting Schedule SUBCOMMITTEES WORKING GROUPS EXTERNAL COMMITTEES WITH HRRC REPRESENTATIVES Date: April 26, 2016 Agenda Item #: VI.B. To:Human Rights and Relations Commission Item Type: Report and Recommendation From:MJ Lamon, Project Coordinator Item Activity: Subject:2017 Work Plan Ideas Discussion CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: None. INTRODUCTION: Commission should discuss possible 2017 work plan initiatives. Senior Assessment Study (Edelson) Date: April 26, 2016 Agenda Item #: VI.C. To:Human Rights and Relations Commission Item Type: Other From:MJ Lamon, Project Coordinator Item Activity: Subject:July Meeting Date Change Action CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: Change the regularly schedule July 2016 Human Rights and Relations Commission meeting to July 13 at 7:00pm. INTRODUCTION: The Human Rights and Relations Commission's joint work session with City Council is scheduled on July 19. In order to be fully prepared the HRRC could benefit from moving their July meeting earlier in the month. Date: April 26, 2016 Agenda Item #: VII.A. To:Human Rights and Relations Commission Item Type: Correspondence From:MJ Lamon, Project Coordinator Item Activity: Subject:Correspondence Information CITY OF EDINA 4801 West 50th Street Edina, MN 55424 www.edinamn.gov ACTION REQUESTED: INTRODUCTION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Correspondence_1 Correspondence_2 From:Joel Stegner To:MJ Lamon Subject:Human Rights & Relations - An Issue I"d Ask Be Considered Date:Friday, March 25, 2016 11:27:47 AM HI MJ, I see that you are the staff liaison for this commission. I know that affordable housing is one of the priorities of your commission, as lack of affordable makes it difficult for the poor and many who work in Edina to live here. I would like my email to be shared in the correspondence section of your meetings. I don't really see a need to come to spend a lot of time on it, unless you would like me to do so - as a poster child for some of the issues I'm bringing up. For some time, we have heard about a developer who is converting a big source of affordable housing in Richfield to market rate housing, forcing most residents to go on month-to-month leases, absorb large rent issues or simply forced to move out. Just this week, I have read a similar story coming from St. Louis Park, which I'd like to discuss. The property is Meadowbrook Manor. I know that development well as both my Grandmother and a close personal friend lived there. The newspaper story say that 350 residents are getting new leases, with rent increases of $100-125 per month, which I believe amounts to a 10% increase. I believe that many residents are low income or fixed income, so this would be challenging, but they have put in additional requirements - they must pass a criminal background check and show that they have a reliable source of income that is at least 2.5 times their rent, which appears to be at least $1000 a month with the new rates. Even if they have been good tenants who have regularly paid their rent, they don't have the option of staying if they don't meet all these conditions. If you do the math, to even be considered, a person would have to have a reliable source of income that is pretty high - $2,500 a month which works out to $30,000 per year. Obviously this is a restriction meant to keep out people on limited income (discriminating against elderly people and minorities with a limited income) and the working poor. The reality is that people with limited income should be free to choose to pay more than 40% of their income on housing, rather than be forced to move elsewhere or to nowhere - becoming homeless. Private business should not be second guessing one's personal decision on how to spend their household budgt. Particularly with elderly people on Social Security and a small pension, how many earn $30,000 per year? For those who work, $30000 per year requires a full-time job paying at least $15 per hour, which a lot of full time workers don't get. In the case of seniors, they simply don't buy a lot of stuff and tend to live simply within their means, so the 2.5 standard applied to working age people shouldn't be applied to them. I consider this unfair, as I think most fair minded people do, but what significance does that have to Edina? The same situation could happen here and as far as I know could have happened already. Edina has a stock of affordable housing. The City has taken the position of wanting to have more, particularly to accommodate young singles and families and people who are long- time Edina residents with divorce and job loss have seen their income plummet. I'll make this personal - due to a divorce, financing college for my children, job loss during the Great Recession combined with two house sales in a falling market, my personal income in retirement is roughly 30% of what I was making when I working. I am fortunate to be an opposite sex domestic partnership with someone who is still working, but with my income alone, it is would be difficult for me to stay in Edina due to my changed circumstances. I'm the senior on Social Security with a limited pension that I was talking about. My concern is that I read that many cities allow developers to establish a list of criteria that result in discrimination against large groups of people with limited incomes. I think that Human Right and Relations should continue to focus on affordable housing,as it gets into people being somewhat free to choose where to live, but look into this specific issue. Some of the things it could be doing is an annually updated inventory of all the affordable housing in the community - how much of it do we have and where is located. Adding a one or two hundred units doesn't do much good if each year the stock of affordable housing is being whittled down. Should any major project take away a big chunk of affordable housing, the trend would turn negative. I'm aware that I'm using a loose definition of affordable housing - which gets at the ability of lower income levels to live in Edina, not the kind of more narrow definitions normally used that don't completely capture the problem. With the teardowns in the single family residential neighborhoods, fewer single family houses are affordable for those with average or somewhat above average incomes. Places like the Colony, where I live and which are extremely affordable could easily become the target of a developer. Even though most units are owned, if the city and developer create pressure to sell and buy units that are temporarily being rented by owners, it should generate a mass exodus. As the metro area becomes more diverse and inclusive of all income levels, it can see how lack of housing stock could be used to keep out people seen by some as socially undesirable. As that would be very contrary to the values your commission is trying to represent, just as you got involved when the Council redefined the developer's responsibility for affordable housing, the incremental changes are equally important to track and try to encourage toward being more inclusive. It is unjust to allow consistently steep housing prices keep out people with moderate to low incomes out of the community and apply arbitrary rules such as income 2.5 times the amount of rent that will screen out many low income seniors. Thanks, Joel Joel Stegner 6312 Barrie Road 1CEdina, MN 55435 952-843-3440 , With best wishes, Sanford tvAn 4400 MOrninos Edi, MN 554 3-22-16 Cataloging Policy & Support Office Library of ,Con-piess Washing0n, DC 20540-4305 Daar' Colleagues, //more warrant for replacing 4LACKS--CUB with AFRO-CUBANS, as recommOded 1-23-08. TU E S D A Y , MA R CH 2 2 , 2 0 / 6 ANALYSIS RACE: THE FF-LIMITS DISCUSSION I CU &A - S T A R T R I B U By KATE LINTHICUM • Los Angeles Times HAVANA-In recent years, Afro-Cuban intellectuals have started gathering in a cramped Havana apartment to discuss a topic long considered off-limits in Cuba: race. Fidel Castro's Communist revolution 60 years ago promised to wipe out racial divisions and level the playing field for all Cubans, regardless of color or wealth. Yet racism persists in Cuba, and many say recent economic changes here have over- whelmingly favored the light-skinned elite. The historic visit this week of an Amer- ican president who happens to be black is of special significance to Afro-Cubans, who, like many minorities around the world, view President Obama as a sym- bol of what is possible. It's of particular importance for the small but growing movement of black activists onthe island, who have struggled for years under government pressure and who hope that warming U.S.-Cuba rela- tions will push Cubans toward greater race consciousness. "Maybe without an enemy, everyone here can begin to look more closely at things inside our own country;" said activ- ist Manuel Cuesta Morua, who said he is one of several Cuban dissidents, most of whom are not black, invited to meet with the American president on Tuesday. "We hope it will help people see the racism here with more clarity, and see that there is diversity, and diverse ways of thinking," he said. African influences African influences dating to the days of slavery permeate nearly all aspects of Cuban culture, from the fried plantains served at dinner to the rhythm of the salsa music played on the street. Yet many black Cubans complain of persistent dis- crimihation. Afro-Cubans are poorly represented in the top echelons of the military and Cuba's Communist Party, they are often passed over for jobs ii Jae nation's growing tourism sector. Unlike Chris- tians, practitioners of Yoruba, Sante- ria and other Afro-Cuban religions are barred from establishing their own houses of worship. Even though a majority of Cubans are mixed race to some degree, jokes about those who are darkest are common. A common phrase — "every sheep with its kind" — is used to discourage interracial coupling. Dominik Dominco Almonaci, 28, who on a recent afternoon was dancing to alive salsa band in a plaza in Old Havana, said he has been accosted by police for walk- ing with a lighter-skinned woman in his hometown of Santiago. The reason? "My dreadlocks," he said. Almonaci, who said he doesn't like U.S. capitalism, said Afro-Cubans can learn from Obama and U.S. civil rights activ- ists to press for more equality. "The kids of color in the U.S. are more united," said Almonaci, referring to black American activists who have banded together to protest police violence. Widening income inequality Experts and activists say a series of recent economic changes in Cuba has created a widening income inequality gap, with Afro-Cubans largely on the losing end. The Cuban government now allows some people to open businesses in their homes and rent out cars as taxis. But, said Ted Henken, a professor of black and Latino studies at Baruch College, "the people who have been most successful at self-employment are the people who have well-appointed homes in central locations or a car." That doesn't tend to be Afro-Cubans, many of whom live on the periphery of such cities as Havana. "Racial inequality has been further exacerbated by the large number of remittances that flow to Cubans from relatives in the U.S.," he said. Early waves of migration to American cities such as Miami were dominated by wealthier — and whiter — Cubans who were fleeing the Castro government's plans to redis- tribute wealth. Henken said he believes the Cuban government should do more to protect vulnerable groups, such as Afro-Cubans or the elderly, but noted that it would first require the recognition of difference. 'One-size-fits-all' "The government doesn't think that way," Henken said. "The government has one-size-fits-all solutions." Juan Madrazo Luna, whose apartment has become a gathering point for many Afro-Cuban activists, said that the move- ment has many sympathizers but that it is difficult to get people to speak out because they fear police harassment or losing their job. Luna, who was once a manager at a government personnel office, said he was fired several years ago after employees he supervised said "they were uncomfort- able having a boss who was black." He didn't learn about the civil rights movement in the United States until he was 28. In Cuban textbooks, he said, the U.S. is presented as a country beset with racism, but the stories of people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are left out. In recent years, Luna has started host- ing small workshops in his apartment, in which he teaches younger Afro-Cubans about those figures and other luminaries of civil rights movements in Brazil and elsewhere. On the wall of his living room, he has hung a Cuban flag and a couple dozen framed portraits of Afro-Cuban intellec- tuals, sports heroes and revolutionary leaders. Many of them, too, were left out of history books, he said. "We are invisible in our own revolutionary history." TEE TIMID COAST BY SALIM MUWAKKIL U.N. to U.S.: Reparations Now THE CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSION ON REPARATIONS for African Americans was instigated by Ta-Nehisi Coates in an award-winning essay in the June 2014 issue of The Atlantic. Reparations were also the most salient recom- mendation of a United Nations working group that recently toured the United States to assess the condition of black America. At the end of its fact-finding mission, the group concluded it was "extremely concerned about the human rights situation of African Americans" The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent was established in 2002. The group delivered its assessment at a January 29 news conference in Washington, D.C., following an ii-day tour that included stops in Baltimore, Chicago, New York City and Jackson, Miss., where the delegation met with community organizers, law enforcement officials and victims of police violence. Chairperson Mireille Fanon- Mendes France, a French human rights activist (and daughter of the writer and psychiatrist Frantz Fanon) summed up the working group's preliminary findings: "Despite substantial changes since the end of the enforcement of Jim Crow and the fight for civil rights, ideology en- suring the domination of one group over another continues to negatively impact the civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights of African Americans." I spoke with Mendes France during the group's visit to Chicago. She expressed disappointment at finding so little progress on racial issues. "These police killings, especially the case of Eric Garner and Laquan McDonald, remind me of the lynchings of black men in the South:' she said. "It's shocking that these kinds of abuses persist." She added that the history of the United States makes it obvious that the legacy of enslavement is an ongoing prob- lem for black Americans, and that "the need for repara- tory justice is very apparent to anyone who really cares to look." For example, the fact that American policing evolved partially from slave patrols helps explain the anti-black atti- tudes endemic to police departments and other institutions with a similar paternity. The Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign was the primary organizer of the Chicago visit, with help from groups like the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), The National Conference of Black Lawyers and Fearless Leading by the Youth. People traveled from St. Louis, Ferguson, Flint, Madison and Minneapolis to testify before the U.N. group on topics that ranged from employment discrimination and the wide-scale closures of majority-black schools in Chicago, to police brutality. Noting the "the excessive control and supervision targeting all levels of [black] life" and "the persistent gap in almost all the human development indicators, such as life expectancy, income and wealth, level of education and even food security:' the group concluded: "Past injustices and crimes against African Ameri- cans need to be addressed with reparatory justice." The group also recommended erecting monuments, markers and memorials to acknowl- edge that "the transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity:' accompanied by education and acts of reconcili- ation. In addition, it suggested establishing a national hu- man rights commission with a division dedicated to monitoring the rights of African Americans, repealing all state laws restricting voting rights, and passing all pending criminal justice reform legislation, as well as the H.R. 40 bill for a Commission to Study Reparations Proposals for African Americans Act. Since 1989, at the start of every Congress, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has fruitlessly re-introduced this legislation to acknowledge slavery and racial discrim- ination, study their impact and propose remedies. H.R. 40 is numbered in recognition of the unfulfilled promise to freed slaves of "40 acres and a mule." The group's findings will be presented in a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in September. The informa- tion will then be grist for whatever mill that best uses it. Past delegations' reports on Ecuador, Brazil, Panama, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the Netherlands have in- fluenced the national discourse. At the very least, this report will boost the argument of reparations advocates. M The police killings of Laquan McDonald and Eric Garner have heightened calls for reparations. PH O T O BY SC O T T OL S ON / GE T TY IN THESE TIMES APRIL 2016 19 This Crucial Election Year Edd Doerr T. his year's elections may be the most crucial since 1860. Foreign policy, the economy, social jus- tice, fax policy, the appointment of Supreme Court justices, and the stag- nation/retrogression of the middle and lower classes are just some of the many issues that our under-informed, distracted electorate will be asked to consider when choosing among the candidates. But in this column let me highlight three of the most important ones. ". . . Most American voters have yet to wrap their heads around the climate-change problem in all its depth and comPlexily." Climate Change While the Paris agreements of late fall 2015 are a small step forward, it is fair to say that most American voters have yet to wrap their heads around the climate change problem in all its depth and complexity. In addition to the global-warming effects of atmo- spheric carbon-dioxide buildup caused by burning fossil fuels and consequent sea-level rise, which poses threats to the 40 percent of the world's popula- tion living in coastal areas, there are at least these other serious concomitants: environmental degradation; resource depletion; soil erosion and nutrient loss; deforestation; desertification; bio- diversity shrinkage; toxic waste accu- mulation; growing freshwater short- ages; decreasing access to rare minerals essential to modern manufacturing; rising consumer demand and consump- tion; and increasing sociopolitical insta- bility and violence. Much of this was detailed in Michael Klare's 2001 book, Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict, and many other books. Though too rarely mentioned, all of this is fueled by human population growth, tripled since World War II to well over seven billion. Scientists have been warning that this would happen since the 1950s. In 1974, the U.S. gov- ernment produced the National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200) report, signed by President Gerald Ford and National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, which spelled out the problem and recommended universal access to contraception and abortion. Mysteriously, however, the NSSM 200 report was "classified" and buried until shortly before the 1994 United Nations population conference in Cairo. When the report was finally published in 1996 in The Life and Death of NSSM 200: How the Destruction of Political Will Doomed a U.S. Population Policy by Stephen Mumford, I was one of the very few writers who published reviews of it, in several forums. Meanwhile, reactionary Senator Jesse Helms and Representative Henry Hyde succeeded in getting Con- gress to pass legislation designed to interfere with broad domestic and foreign access to reproductive health aid. As I pointed out a year ago in the National Catholic Reporter; were it not for the 1.5 billion abortions per- formed worldwide since 1974 (far too many of them illegal and dangerous), world population today would exceed a mind-boggling, unsustainable nine billion! This brings us to the conservative religious and political leaders who have gone all-out to deny the dangers posed by overpopulation and to obstruct efforts to deal with the problem. Pope Francis may be commended for his good words on climate change and social justice, but if he fails to reverse the Vatican's absurd ban on contraception,, ignored by most Catholics but all too influential with politicians, those good words will fall well short. Opponents of universal access to contraception and safe, legal abortion must be seen as inimical to our species' surviving, much less thriving. Reproductive Choice Who by now is not aware of the mas- sive Republican effort, in Congress and state legislatures, to defund Planned Parenthood on the phony charge of selling fetal tissue? Only about 3 per- cent of Planned Parenthood's budget is devoted to abortions, while the rest is used for a variety of women's health issues, particularly those affecting women of 'more limited means. Then there is in recent years the massive Republican flood of state laws clamp- ing down On clinics that perform abor- tions, thus denying an increasing num- ber of women—mostly poor women— access to various forms of health care. Religion is inserted into the issue by conservative religious leaders and politicians who insist that the Bible is on their side, a claim that is clearly phony. The Bible does not really deal with abortion. Anyone who bothers to 50 FREE INQUIRY APRIL/MAY 2016 secularhumanism.org look into it would see that the Bible actually supports the science side of the argument. Here is how: Genesis 1:27 and 2:7 state that "God created man in his own image" and humans became persons at their first breath. To cut to the chase, if "God" is not flesh and blood and DNA, then the Bible authors must be referring to some. other qualities, such as consciousness and will, which modern science shows are not possible until sometime after the fetal brain is sufficiently wired to permit conscious- ness, after twenty-eight to thirty-two weeks of gestation. About 90 percent of abortions are performed by thirteen weeks and over 99 percent by twenty weeks. The small percentage that occur after "viability" at twenty-three to twen- ty-four weeks are due only to .serious medical problems, such as threat to the woman's life or severe fetal abnormal- ity. This point was made in an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in the 1988 case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, signed by 165 distin- guished scientists including twelve Nobel laureates, one of whom was DNA codiscoverer Francis Crick. (Note: I engineered the brief, which grew out of an Americans for Religious Liberty conference of scientists, iawyers, and theologians on "Abortion Rights and Fetal 'Personhood.'") Judaism, we might note, has always generally regarded personhood as beginning at birth. Of course, readers of this column 'may well be indifferent to what the Bible says on this matter, but it is use- ful to know that one of the main arguments against women's rights of conscience and religious freedom on this issue is essentially groundless. Opposition to abortion rights, if not based on what the Bible actually says, must be based on something else. That something else is the misogyny found throughout the Bible (and the Qur'an) and deeply rooted in most societies today. Official Catholic opposition to women priests and assorted evangeli- cal forms of misogyny, not to mention Orthodox Jewish and Muslim forms of it,'are among the many manifestations of that worldwide ailment. Public Education Mostly under the public radar (unless you live in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, or poorer parts of California and other states) are the endless, ever-rising assaults on public education, teachers, and teacher unions, the subject of my last two columns. As I write, the news has just broken that Senator and presi- dential aspirant Ted Cruz has introduced a twenty-three-page bill "to expand school choice in the District of Columbia" through voUcherlike "educational sav- ings accounts" (ESAs). D.C.'s elected but nonvoting delegate immediately voiced her .opp6sition. Cruz disdains the fact that D.C. voters in 1981 rejected a similar plan in a referendum by 89 percent to 11 percent. (Jeb Bush bragged about his support for school vouchers in one of the debates but neglected to mention that Florida voters rejected his voucher plans at the polls in 2012 by 55 percent to 45 percent) Earlier in January, the Supreme Court heard arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association which, if the court upholds the plaintiffs' opposi- tion to paying "agency fees" for the ben- efits they receive as a result of collective bargaining, could devastate teacher (and other) unions while severely damaging the teaching profession and harming the nearly 90 percent of students in our pub- lic schools. Also in January came the announce- ment that the Walton Family Foundation will pour $1 billion over the next five years into efforts to push various "school choice" initiatives, meaning school vouch- ers and charter schools.. The Walton Foundation, of course, is the beneficiary of the Walmart retail colossus, noted for exporting American jobs to foreign sweatshops, underpaying its employ- ees (many of whom augment their slim paychecks with food stamps courtesy of Uncle Sam), and funneling piles of money to campaigns to divert public funds to sectarian and other private schools. The hottest new book on this huge problem, just off the press, is The End of Public Education: The Corporate Reform Agenda to Privatize Education by David W. Hursh (Routledge, 2016). Hursh's short (123-page) opus goes well beyond just vouchers and tax credits for private schools to public funding of for-profit charter schools, management companies, and suppliers of services. Most of the besiegers are people who have little or no experience as actual classroom teachers but would like to turn teachers into some- thing like factory assembly-line drones producing widgets. This is not a criticism of properly run charters that play by the same rules as public schools—though we need to keep in mind the respected 2014 Stanford University CREDO study, which found that nearly 40 percent of charters are worse than regular public schools, while fewer than 20 percent are any better, due mainly to their selectivity in admissions. Missing from the grandiose plans of the pseudo-reformers or "reformists" and privatizers: consideration of what real, experienced educators know is' needed to improve public education, including more adequate and more equitably distributed funding; smaller classes; richer curricula; universal pre-K; wraparound medical and social ser- vices; more serious efforts to alleviate the poverty and racism afflicting a quar- ter of our kids; strong teacher unions; an end to overtesting and teaching to the test; and an end to the diversion of public funds to nonpublic , schools not answerable to taxpayers. Hursh, professor of Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester, names names and pins tails on donkeys. He• concludes that the reformists' effOrts, if not derailed, will wreck public educa- tion in the United States and send the teaching profession down the drain. His book rates five stars. These three priority issues and many others demand. serious efforts and pri- oritizing this election year by American Voters of all persuasions. Divisive mat- ters and other distractions need to be put off until after November. Edd Doerr is the presidenf of Americans for Religious Liberty artd,a: to,rme president of the American Humanist Association; He is a columnist and senior editor of Ears •NQUIRY. secularhumanism.om APRIL/M,AY 2016 REE INQUIRY 51