*EPF504 03/23/01
Text: Sauerbrey Remarks on Racism to U.N. Human Rights Commission
(Says "Fight Against Racism is in Every Nation's Interest") (1620)

The United States sees the upcoming World Conference Against Racism as an opportunity for each country to focus on its own policies and practices, says Ellen Sauerbrey, a public member of the U.S. Delegation to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva.

Sauerbrey, former minority leader of the Maryland House of Delegates, told the Commission March 23 that eliminating racism will not be an easy task, and "We need to work together to make progress, for the fight against racism is in every nation's interest, a goal that all humanity can share."

Following is the text of her remarks:

(begin text)

The Honorable Ellen Sauerbrey
U.S. Delegation, U.N. Commission on Human Rights

Item 6: Racism, Racial Discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of Discrimination

March 23, 2001

Mr. Chairman:

My name is Ellen Sauerbrey, and I am a public member of the U.S. Delegation. It is a great honor to have been named to this position by President Bush and have the opportunity to address the U.N. Commission on Human Rights on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination. These are matters of the highest importance to my state and to my country and, indeed, to every person everywhere.

Few issues have the power to provoke such powerful and divergent views as those involving race and discrimination. The subject is far too complex and our experiences in the United States -- both good and bad -- far too varied to compress into a single speech. For our purposes today, however, I would like to make a few observations.

Let me begin by making one point absolutely clear. The United States government opposes racism in all its forms and manifestations. Our policy is not just rhetorical. We have backed it up with a set of interlocking and very comprehensive laws at the local, state and federal level that specifically target racism and racial discrimination of every kind. We take pride in these laws, for we know how far we have had to come, and we know that a government of the people, by the people, for the people must serve all its citizens, irrespective of their race, religion, gender or national origin.

We have spoken of our own painful racial history at several previous sessions of the Commission and before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), so I do not believe it necessary to go over the same ground today. Suffice it to say that we acknowledge our history and the legacy it has created for many people of African-American and Native American descent and other historic minorities. We recognize that we have not always measured up to the high standards we set for ourselves. We have struggled to overcome our failures and we have learned some painful lessons from them. From these experiences, has come change.

Within my lifetime, I have seen my state, Maryland, and the United States of America transformed to the point where they now stand firmly and unequivocally on the side of tolerance, equal opportunity, and racial justice. This was not always the case, however. The high school I attended in Baltimore County was racially segregated. But the great civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s changed that. To the great benefit of everyone, by the time I had graduated from university, Maryland's public schools were fully integrated.

After university, I became a science teacher and had the opportunity to see firsthand how important this change was, and how much work was needed to offset the damage that segregation had caused so many children. I took that experience with me to Maryland's legislature, where I served for many years. One of our most important tasks there was crafting legislation to ensure that every individual in my state, irrespective of race, religion, or national origin, had fair and equal access to education, employment, credit, and business opportunities. As a result, I am proud to say, my state's laws now offer the strongest protections possible for racial and ethnic minorities.

Still, Mr. Chairman, we must acknowledge that prejudice and intolerance are problems that confront every country in the world. While we cannot claim to be immune from incidents of xenophobia, the gates to our nation have long been open to people from around the world. In the process we have become the most ethnically, racially, and religiously diverse nation on earth. Far from opposing this diversity, we welcome it. Indeed, as our most recent census clearly shows, we are rapidly adding to that diversity, as people from every country and continent continue to seek freedom and opportunity in our country.

The old racial and ethnic barriers to opportunity are falling all across our country. Why? Because our laws -- and, perhaps more importantly -- our people have demanded it. In fact, President Bush has directed Attorney General John Ashcroft to conduct a review of the nature and extent of "racial profiling" by federal law enforcement authorities in conducting stops, searches and other investigative procedures.

Does this mean that we have eliminated every trace of discrimination and prejudice from our country? Of course not. In fact, what nation can honestly make such a claim? But that is no reason to abandon our efforts. We can do better, and we will. We will continue to work so that all children, no matter of what background, have the chance to make the most of their lives. The result of all these efforts is that racial and ethnic minorities have made, and continue to make, tremendous strides in every aspect of our national life. We will continue to work towards an environment that offers equality of opportunity in terms of economic development, education, and health.

To this effect, President Bush has made it one of his administration's highest priorities to ensure that, as he has said, "no child is left behind." Education is the key to individual empowerment in this age of global markets, and I can assure you that the Bush administration will do its utmost to see that every child in the United States has the tools he or she needs to succeed. This is the mandate of Roderick Paige, the first African-American Education Secretary. This mandate from Secretary Paige, the former superintendent of Houston schools, has met with strong approval.

Mr. Chairman, as we made clear in our previous intervention, the United States is deeply committed to the success of the upcoming World Conference Against Racism. We hope that it will make a genuine contribution to the vitally important task of eliminating racism and ethnic prejudice throughout the world, for the cruelty of intolerance and xenophobia have left their marks on people everywhere.

No nation is immune from prejudice and inequality. Nor is racism particular to any country, continent or region. We see the World Conference, therefore, as an opportunity for each country to focus on its own policies and practices. There is much to discuss under such circumstances, and much we can learn from each other if we approach the issues in a positive manner.

We all know that eliminating racism will not be an easy task. We need to work together to make progress, for the fight against racism is in every nation's interest, a goal that all humanity can share. Thus we should not view the World Conference as an occasion to judge and condemn. Rather, let us all use it as an opportunity to acknowledge the shame of slavery, colonialism, and conquest, so that once we have acknowledged the past, we can rededicate ourselves to the work of our day.

Unhappily, slavery and slavery-like practices still exist in this world. We cannot change the past, but we can certainly change the present. There is no time to waste, for human lives are at stake. We must end all forms of human bondage and we look forward to the World Conference as an opportunity to make this point absolutely clear.

We also hope that the World Conference in Durban can articulate a vision and framework that the nations of the world can use in the fight against racism, prejudice, and ethnic intolerance. While governments are essential to the process of defeating these harmful practices, so, too, are intergovernmental organizations, the private sector, and NGOs with special competence and experience in the field. Indeed, many of the most effective programs to fight prejudice have been developed by non-governmental organizations, and we would hope that the World Conference would pay close attention to them.

Mr. Chairman, racism, intolerance and xenophobia have long plagued the world, pitting one race or group against another, to the benefit of none. It is long past time that we put an end to these injustices, for our future may depend on it. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: "We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools."

Old habits may die hard, but they do die when the will to change is strong enough. We have crossed the threshold of a new century, and the challenge that faces us now is clear. Can we rise to the occasion? The answer, I know, is yes. The World Conference Against Racism is an opportunity for us all. But we must seize that opportunity, just as we must use the time we have before then to work together. This way, the World Conference may become the milestone of progress that we all hope it can be.

Thank you.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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