Civil and Human Rights Groups to U.N.: Educational Disparities, Segregation Violations of U.S. Human Rights Obligations
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WASHINGTON –The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights along with six other civil and human rights organizations have submitted a report to the U.N. Human Rights Committee highlighting how American educational disparities violate U.S. civil rights and human rights obligations.
The report prepared by The Leadership Conference Education Fund, “Still Segregated: How Race and Poverty Stymie the Right to Education,” explains how persistent racial and economic segregation and extreme disparities in educational funding are not only immoral, but also violate Articles 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which the United States ratified in 1992.
The Human Rights Committee will review the United States’ progress on implementing the ICCPR October 17th-18th in Geneva, Switzerland.
The report recommends actions the nation can take toward compliance, including a more robust federal role in guaranteeing the right to education, greater and more equitable investment of resources in the public school system, and tougher enforcement of existing civil rights laws.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Anti-Defamation League, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the NAACP, the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Poverty and Race Research Action Council co-signed the report.
In a foreword to the report, Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference Education Fund and The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights wrote: “There remains an inconsistency between the ideals the nation professes and the reality of its practices. While it is true that U.S. laws and policies are comparatively advanced in protecting civil rights, the gap in U.S. law and policy as it relates to the protection of universal human rights recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is striking, especially in the areas of economic inequality, racial discrimination, and educational inequity.”
Click here to download the report.
The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund’s campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals.
For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.