c. Develop a national agenda for the complete elimination of segregation in educational institutions based on the assertion that it is now 54 years since the United States Supreme Court ordered desegregation "by all deliberate speed." Surely, 54 years of continued, widespread education discrimination in its original forms and in the new forms in which strategies like "chilly classroom climates" and isolation of those who speak out against injustice are employed with impunity. Failure to address the multiple forms of discrimination in K-12 schools and at every level of higher education have resulted in skyrocketing dropout rates of students of color, especially female of color students into low salaried, dead-end careers, subjecting female of color students at every level to negative, demeaning images of women of color which destroy aspirations and self esteem. Concurrently, the sexual abuse of teen and pre-teen girls by adult men as predators and as sexual abusers in their own social circles, which results in many unplanned pregnancies and births, is hidden in the pretense that the fathers of the often unwanted, frequently neglected children are teenaged boys. This allows adult men, including many married men to evade responsibility for their children and their infidelity to their wives (often women of color too), creating an environment in which women and girls of color are perpetuated as dehumanized sex objects who are simultaneously blamed as the cause of the immoral behaviors of adult men. When men in the highest positions in both public and private sectors are allowed with impunity to exploit women and girls of color and when wives and daughters of such men are subjected to the associated demeaning, public disgrace, the collective self esteem of the members of the group-women of color-is dramatically diminished. In addition, young men of all backgrounds are taught by example that there are no serious or lasting negative consequences to the exploitation and abuse of women of color. Indeed, it has become fashionable and a signal of proven "manliness" which is rewarded, not punished. The reinforcement of these destructive behaviors is implemented by the media/entertainment industry. The most egregious negative stereotypes of women of color appear on television where they are overrepresented as criminals, prostitutes, drug addicts, welfare cheats, and habitually weak, immoral individuals. Women of color from some groups, such as Asian Americans, are virtually excluded from representation in most instances, whereas other, such as Native American Indians, are primarily represented as still living as "discovered" by Europeans centuries ago. Standards of beauty for women are still based on European features, suggesting that women whose features are not European, are ugly. No comparable conditions are permitted or tolerated for any other kinds of people as they are for women of color. It is the responsibility of the government of this country of which we are citizens to relieve these intolerable conditions through immediate and sustained corrective action.
d. Respond to the need for mental health care delivery in schools to address issues such a bullying and other violence, gangs, low self-esteem, child abuse, and family referrals to mental health programs. Promote school participation in community mental health programs in communities where high youth suicide risks have been identified.
e. Expand academic support program funding substantially to provide more academic advising, individual and group tutoring, after-school and summer academic enrichment programs, mentoring by local businesses and community organizations, cultural enrichment programs, and intellectual stimulation programs. The US Department of Education has many successful programs models, such as Upward Bound, which can meet most of these needs and have been proven successful for many years. At present, schools, colleges/universities and other organizations must compete for the funds through grant programs which are not adequate to meet the needs of the country. Simply by dramatically increasing the funding administered by the Department of Education for educational support programs, the academic success of the students of the nation would be dramatically increased. By utilizing these existing and proven models, action can be taken immediately to assist the majority of students of the nation, especially those in public schools which generally lack the support and attention of smaller, private schools. The Dept. of Education programs also draw on the successes of individuals who have come from disadvantaged backgrounds and engage them whenever possible to direct and staff the programs, providing role models to the students. All students who need academic support should have it provided rather than forcing competition among the needy which always leaves some in need without adequate resources.
f. Insure the inclusion of women/women of color, minorities and other historically disadvantaged groups in the developing energy-related industries and careers by developing educational awareness programs which inform students and communities of emerging opportunities and the curricula, internships, and other preparation which will facilitate their admission to vocational and professional opportunities related to energy issues.
a. Appoint a multi-cultural team of seasoned female and male professionals drawn from multiple disciplines and associations, including small as well as large businesses, environmentalists, labor organizations, women of color organizations and grassroots civil rights advocates to review and discuss the successes and complaints associated with NAFTA, including the repeated violence against and numerous disappearances of women of color in industrial areas on our borders. Order the completion of a report within 6 months.
b. Review all international trade support programs and cultural exchange programs of the US Department of Commerce and US Department of State, and other federal agencies, to determine equity of access for all citizens. Insure equal access to women, women of color, and minorities to participate and to receive equitable support. Develop programs that provide opportunities for people of color to interact in international activities, conferences and forums, especially with people with whom they share common heritage, such as African Americans with the people of Africa and with African Americans throughout the Americas. Encourage the acquisition of skills in multiple languages, especially the languages of the Americas-Indigenous languages, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and Caribbean Pidgin and in the languages of all parts of the US, additionally including Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin, Samoan, and other languages of the US Pacific Islands. Also encouraged should be the languages of many other citizen populations which can assist the US in resuming many kinds of leadership in the world, including multiple Chinese languages, Japanese, Tagalog, Korean, Vietnamese and Arabic.
7. MEDIAa. Develop policies, as recommended by The Alliance for Community Media, which protect local cable franchising authorities' ability to require PEG access channels and adequate mechanisms for supporting them within their franchise agreements. Establish a national policy of "community reinvestment" through Public, Educational, and Government Access organizations which includes funds and bandwidth and/or spectrum that will be used for public purposes by: Allowing the local community which owns the public right-of-way to franchise and determine the best use of the community's property. This principle must be protected by Federal law. Dedicating ten percent of the public airwaves and capacity on communication facilities that occupy public rights-of-way to PEG use for free speech, diverse points of view, local programs, community based education and political speech. Mandating funding of five percent of gross revenues from all infrastructure and service providers and spectrum licensees to support PEG equipment, facilities, training and services. Make PEG access universally available to any consumer of advanced telecommunications services capable of full-motion video.
b. Restore free public access to all C-Span channels and other government channels and stations so that maximum opportunity exists for all citizens to keep informed of the activities of our government, national figures, major publications and organizations conducting studies and research which voters need to interact with our government and for informed voting. Not long ago, Cable channels removed free access to C-Span and substituted religious programming. Religious programming is more appropriately placed within subscription programming since not all religions receive equal access and not all citizens want to be forced to view programs of religions to which they do not ascribe. It is more in keeping with the separation of church and state to make government channels free and available to all, than to replace access to government channels with programs of one or two religions only.
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