Race panel finds 'white privilege'

To lead the nation toward racial harmony, the commission's report tells Clinton, he must confront the "continuing existence of prejudice and privilege" that has created a system that relegates to people of color an inferior status to that of whites.

The commission said it decided an apology for slavery was "much too narrow" to address black Americans' experience with discrimination.

With its report, the president's advisory board on race wraps up its yearlong investigation of race in America.

"It is, we believe, essential to recall the facts of racial domination. ... We as a nation need to understand that whites tend to benefit, either unknowingly or consciously, from this country's history of white privilege," the report said.

That said, they noted that racial attitudes among whites have improved steadily over the past 40 years. "It is fair to say that there is a deep-rooted national consensus to the ideals of racial equality and integration, even if that consensus falters on the best means to achieve those ideals," the report's final draft said.

Clinton was to receive the report today in a meeting with the board, which will then be disbanded. The president has said he might continue the board's work through a permanent council, a step the board recommended. He will use the report as a basis for his own report on race in America.

Among proposals, the board:

n Recommended that Clinton's "mend it, don't end it" policy on affirmative action, which it supported, be studied further. "This is an area clearly in flux," the board said. "Leadership is needed to forge public consensus."

n Flagged for study police misconduct involving minorities, stereotyping in media, environmental justice, federal employment, bilingual education, access to technology, conflicts between nonwhite ethnic groups.

n Brought to Clinton's attention the practice of racial profiling, in which police use race to identify potential criminals. It is employed most often in traffic stops, a crime known casually as "driving while black."

n Urged Clinton to review the disparity in sentences for crimes involving powdered cocaine and its concentrated form, crack. The board said longer sentences for crimes involving crack, largely involving poor, black or Hispanic offenders, are "morally and intellectually indefensible."

Christopher Edley, a Harvard law professor advising Clinton, said the commission's work will be helpful.

"It addresses ... the kinds of dialogue and public education efforts that will help create the moral foundation for policy changes," Edley said. "The president sees this as an old and deep problem that no single report or collection of policy ideas will solve, but this is an important step."

Clinton was receiving a separate report today from the Council of Economic Advisers that lists social and economic indicators of various racial and ethnic groups. The race board suggested the report as a means of measuring the impact of prejudice.

The second report showed that whites and Asians enjoy greater advantages economically and have better access to health care and education. It found that the social and economic progress of blacks slowed between the mid-1970s and early 1990s, the economic status of Hispanics has declined in the past 25 years and American Indians are the most disadvantaged ethnic group by far.

The race board said white privilege manifests itself in small ways, among them being able to buy cars at lower prices, escaping scrutiny for possible criminal behavior, getting prompt service "while minorities and people of color are often still refused service or made to wait."

09-18-98