tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2007:/issues/opportunityanddiscrimination//11 2007-04-15T22:13:19Z Movable Type 3.31 tag:www.catholicdemocrats.org,2007:/issues/opportunityanddiscrimination//11.79 2007-04-15T22:07:03Z 2007-04-15T22:13:19Z

We wish to call attention to the persistent presence of racism and in particular to the relationship between racial and economic justice. Racism and economic oppression are distinct but interrelated forces which dehumanize our society. Movement toward authentic justice demands...

Patrick Whelan -Brothers and Sisters to Us, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979 Faith in the one God, Creator and Redeemer of all humankind made in his image and likeness, constitutes the absolute and inescapable negation of any racist ideologies. It is still necessary to draw out all the consequences of this: "We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat any people in other than brotherly fashion, for all men are created in God's image. This obedience to God and love for man must lead us to respect human rights, those rights which are the expression of God's will and the requirement of human nature just as God created it." Quoting Pope John Paul, "The Church and Racism," Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace, 1988. Bishops stand up to Republican legislation imposing harsh penalties on Catholic service providers The Bush record on Opportunity and Discrimination: 1. Murder based on nationality-The Bush Administration has killed thousands of Iraqi citizens in the interest of making Americans "safer." This represents the most fundamental selective devaluation of life: the killing of one nation's citizens for the benefit of another's, and this in retrospect without any real justification for the belief that Iraq posed any real threat to the wellbeing of Americans. 2. Administrative neglect for civil rights in the U.S.-Numerous instances of neglect for worker and minority rights are evident in the public record over the past three years. Some examples: 1. Massive disenfranchisement of Black men, particularly in Florida. Administration officials supported the State of Florida in litigation intended to overturn the odious disenfranchisement of former inmates from the political process. Mr. Bush's brother and the Florida State leadership have again come under scrutiny for knowingly circulating to local voting officials "felon's lists" that excluded predominantly Republican Cuban-American voters but sought to restrict voting rights of Black men, thousands of whom were not actually ex-convicts. 2. "Responsible Contractor" rules proffered by the Clinton Administration would have assured that federal contracts for more than $200 billion were only awarded to companies that comply with laws governing civil rights, worker safety, and the environment. The Bush Administration moved quickly to repeal these rules, announcing it quietly during the Christmas holiday in 2001. 3. Repetitive motion injury ergonomics regulations developed by the Clinton Administration and disproportionately affecting women in clerical positions were revoked by the Bush Administration. 4. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs in the Department of Labor, an agency empowered to punish worker discrimination among federal contractors, has been dramatically scaled back in its budget, scope of enforcement actions (including implementing new Federal Acquisition Regulations), and data gathering capabilities. Goals for a future Democratic Administration: 1. A first priority must be a meaningful increase in the minimum wage and in funding for job training. In his remarks to the Democratic Convention, Senator John Edwards said, "We can also do something about 35 million Americans who live in poverty every day. Here's the reason we should not just talk about it, but do something about millions of Americans who still live in poverty-because it is wrong. We have a moral responsibility to lift those families up. The very idea that in a country of our wealth and our prosperity, we have children going to bed hungry. We have children who don't have the clothes to keep them warm. We have millions of Americans who work full-time every day for minimum wage to support their family and still live in poverty-it's wrong. These are men and women who are living up to their part of the bargain: working hard and taking care of their families. Those families are doing their part; it's time we did ours." 2. Strong support for enforcement of civil rights laws, support for affirmative action, and opposition to measures intended to weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law by the first President Bush. 3. Reform of immigration law so that immigrants are not vilified, that there is a clear path to permanent residence status, and that families can be more easily unified.]]>