COM 0852.000 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

APP-30-98 TNU 1:43 PH KAUAI COUNTY CUEK FAX NO. 1 808 2416349 P. 10 NACo General Session March 1, 1998 Page 2 6 Becky Varney, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, spoke on their county's community- building diversity program for better race relations. A special 50-member task force has been formed by the Mayor of Mecklenburg County with private foundation funding which recently sponsored a two-day community-building conference. Post-conference focus groups were attended by over 600 community members. Address b Maria c haVestl Assistant to the President and Director of the White Houae_ Qffice of Public Liaison Maria Echavesti. Assistant to the President, spoke on the President Clinton's dialogue on racial relations initiative. She stated that this an unusual time for such an initiative. as Presidential focus on race relations has not occurred in the past without severe unrest being manifested somewhere In the nation. In this case, because we are relatively at peace over the Issue of race relations, there Is the luxury of time to reflect on this Issue to assure the nation- can-be-unified at-a-time when we are the most diverse we have ever been as a nation. Counties have been addressing this issue usually because something "ugly" has happened, or demographic shifts tome us to address this issue. There is a need for presidential focus for national attention to be drawn to this issue; the President is proposing a three-pronged approach: (1) "Dialogue" which recognizes that America has never fully realized its ideal of racial harmony - we have been hypocritical on this Issue from the birth of the nation when we have been confronted by such historical divisions as slavery. the Civil War, and the Civil Rights movement. As we move into the next century, no one ethnic group will hold a majority of the population, and this dialogue becomes more important than ever. (2) "Study' to find out the facts behind racial Inequalities in areas such as - - -bu aites3. edtTCMrM. and-health care. (3) "Action' to outline steps that need to be taken to achieve our national ideals. A large part of the action agenda will be focussed on the area of education in order to bring us closer to the guarantee of a quality education for every child in America. There Is also opportunity to address equity in the area of government procurement and contracting. For ISTEA funding, to what extent will this provide opportunity for equity? The level of opportunity and a level playing field must be provided through action. Multi-cultural tourist Industries can also be looked at.