This week in Geneva: The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is holding its periodic review of U.S. compliance with the CERD treaty this week. Along with the official U.S. delegation, dozens of U.S. civil rights advocates are in Geneva to testify and monitor the proceedings – see these summaries from the U.S. Human Rights Network and law professor Martha Davis. PRRAC helped to prepare two coalition “shadow reports” to the CERD Committee, on “Discrimination and Segregation in Housing” and “The Federal Responsibility to Reduce School Segregation and Address the Achievement Gap.” We also contributed to the shadow report submitted by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights,”Falling Further Behind: Combating Racial Discrimination in America.”
Legal Mandates at the Department of Education: PRRAC executive director Phil Tegeler has a new article in the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, titled “The ‘Compelling Government Interest’ in School Diversity: Rebuilding the Case for an Affirmative Government Role.” This issue of the Journal also includes articles by PRRAC Board members john a. powell and Sheryll Cashin. See the full issue here.
Upcoming conferences
People Matter: The Human Impacts of Planned Redevelopment (September 13): This global symposium at MIT in Cambridge will commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of psychologist Marc Fried’s seminal publication, “Grieving for a Lost Home,” a study on the psychological impacts of redevelopment in Boston’s West End neighborhood. Details and registration here.
How Housing Matters (October 16): This free day-long event at the National Building Museum in DC will explore the relationship between affordable housing and child development, education, physical and mental health, and long-term economic success. Sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation. Register here.
