>>>THE OTHER SIDE>>>
September, 2003
A feud erupted between Civil Rights activists and Governor Romney over his under-the-radar-screen dismantling of the state's affirmative action program. "This is a sad day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," said Leonard Alkins, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP. "Romney wants to wipe the slate of affirmative action clean, a slate that was written by several hundred years of struggle," added Meizhi Lui of United for a Fair Economy. In response to the outrage, Romney claimed that 37 percent of the people he's hired have "minority backgrounds." Later, it was clarified that at least 7 percent of that total did not reveal their ethnic origin.

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Other Issues on Our Agenda:

 Health and Human Services
Economy
Education
The Environment
Housing
Civil Rights
Our Families and Communities

 

 

The Democratic Party has been, and will continue to be, the defender of individual rights, while remaining a strong champion for the common good.

  • We strongly oppose the use of discriminatory racial profiling practices in law enforcement. It is not only unfair, it is a violation of the basic American principle of innocent until proven guilty.

  • We are deeply concerned by evidence of striking racial disparities in certain sentencing patterns among persons convicted of similar or identical offenses.

  • We reaffirm our intolerance for verbal and physical assaults against any person on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, disability, gender or sexual orientation. We support legislation to combat hate crimes, and the collection and dissemination of information about their prevalence by governmental agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice
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  • We will petition our elected representatives in the State Legislature and in the U.S. Congress to stand firm for our civil liberties and Constitutional protections at all times, including as they work to meet the threat of terrorism.

  • We will continue to lead the fight to end discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation. The Democratic Party has always supported the Equal Rights Amendment and will continue to do so.

  • We support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to end workplace discrimination against gay men and lesbians. We will fight for full funding of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other civil rights enforcement agencies.

  • We know there is still more we can do to ensure equal opportunity for all Americans, so all people willing to work hard can build a strong future. We support affirmative action so that it promotes equal opportunity for all, but does not accidentally hold others back in the process.
USEFUL LINKS ON CIVIL RIGHTS