The Day of Reckoning: the U.S. Defends its "Progress" in Eliminating Racial Discrimination

By Nancy Bothne

Thursday, February 21, 2008, GENEVA: Today is the day we came here for: the hearing on the United States’ record of racial discrimination. Representatives of the U.S. government will present their report. Already we know that their main point will be that incidents of racial discrimination are not systemic and that people of color have the same equal opportunities as others. Despite the U.S. record - which demonstrates that people of color have a lesser quality of life in education and health outcomes, are exposed to greater environmental hazards and are segregated into substandard housing, where poverty is greater and unemployment higher - the U.S. will defend itself as having achieved progress in eliminating racial discrimination. Among one of their more amusing anecdotes, the US has cited the movie "Crash" as evidence of progress because it represents a cultural change in how race is experienced.

We spent the last 3 days educating the UN Committee of the U.S. record as experienced by people of color. We expect there to be questions about U.S. torture at Guantanamo, deprival of land of the Western Shoshone, and examination of the way in which racial discrimination impacts women, LBGTI, youth and poor people differentially.

We here in Chicago have focused on justice for those tortured by former police commander Jon Burge, advancing rights of displaced persons for those whose homes have been decimated by the Plan for Transformation, and linking racial discrimination with sustained poverty that deprives people of a minimum standard of living. Coming out of this, we hope to see the UN pressure the United States government to encourage and monitor local government compliance with international human rights treaties. If Chicago wants to host an international Olympics - it must learn the international language of human rights.