Issues that disparately affect Black people such as affirmative action, voting rights for ex-felony offenders, voting rights for D.C. congressional representatives, racial profiling, police brutality, mandatory minimum sentences, and the death penalty are just a few of the issues that have barely - if ever – been publicly addressed by either candidate during the intense race.“It was made clear at the time that the responses received would be reproduced and distributed to the NAACP members and communities so that we could make informed decisions when going to the polls,” says Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP Washington Bureau. “The questionnaire contained… issues of crucial importance to the NAACP and the communities we serve.” The 39-page document, compiled by the historically non-partisan civil rights organization over the course of a year, allowed the candidates to give candid views in 200 words or less. For space and brevity, the NNPA News Service has excerpted quotes from the responses. The following are verbatim excerpts from the questionnaire:
• What specific actions will you take regarding equal opportunity programs?
MCCAIN: “The affirmative action remedies designed 40 years ago should be reexamined…Our efforts to promote equal opportunity should focus on those who are disadvantaged. In access to quality education, we should focus on poorly performing schools that are not effectively educating our students, not on the students’ race. In access to government contracting, government set-aside programs should focus on disadvantaged enterprises and employees, not their race, ethnicity, or gender.”
OBAMA: “I support affirmative action. When there is strong evidence of prolonged and systemic discrimination by organizations, affirmative action may be the only meaningful remedy available…We shouldn’t ignore that race continues to matter: To suggest that our racial attitudes play no part in the socioeconomic disparities that we often observe turns a blind eye to both our history and our experience – and relieves us of the responsibility to make things right.”
Read the whole thing for more quotes on different issues by both McCain & Obama.
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