What obligations does society have to address historical and ongoing racial disparities?
Each issue breaks into the specific questions Congress actually fights over. Read each position, then head to the interactive version of this issue to mark which reflects your view and build a message to your representatives.
Diversity in education and employment produces measurable benefits for all students and workers. Race-conscious admissions and hiring correct for documented bias in facially neutral systems.
The Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions decision (2023) ended race-conscious admissions at universities, but socioeconomic preferences — which correlate with race — remain permissible and may achieve similar goals.
The Constitution guarantees equal protection regardless of race. Race-conscious admissions and hiring are both illegal and immoral — discriminating against individuals for a characteristic they cannot control.
Systemic racism in policing produces documented disparities in stops, searches, arrests, and use of force. Structural reforms — not just individual accountability — are required.
Police reform should focus on training, accountability, and data collection. Both over-policing and under-policing harm communities — particularly minority communities that both experience more crime and more problematic police contact.
The framing of policing as systemically racist is contested by the evidence and deeply unfair to the vast majority of officers. Reform should focus on individual bad actors and improving officer training, not defunding.
The documented economic consequences of slavery, followed by Jim Crow and redlining, are measurable and ongoing. A reparations program — whether cash or targeted investment — is a matter of basic justice.
Study commissions (H.R. 40) can assess the scope and form of appropriate redress before committing to a specific program. Community investment, homeownership assistance, and education funding are reparations-adjacent policies with broader support.
Collective guilt and collective punishment based on race violate basic principles of individual responsibility. Current taxpayers did not own slaves; current African Americans were not enslaved. Reparations would be divisive and constitutionally dubious.
Voter suppression is ongoing and documented — from poll closures in minority communities to ID requirements that correlate with race. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act would restore key Voting Rights Act protections.
The evidence on whether specific policies constitute intentional suppression vs. administrative management is contested. Consistent national standards for voting access would reduce state-by-state inequity.
The framing of every voter ID law or polling change as "suppression" is politically motivated. Shelby County v. Holder correctly found that the coverage formula used to trigger pre-clearance was outdated.
Property-tax-based school funding systematically underfunds schools in low-income, often minority communities. Federal and state funding formulas should be revised to address this structural inequity.
School funding equity is broadly supported in principle. Charter schools and school choice programs can expand options for families in underserved areas while traditional public school reform continues.
School choice — including charters, vouchers, and education savings accounts — gives minority families trapped in failing schools the options wealthy families already have. It is the civil rights issue of our time.