Reports Damn Reagan Civil Rights Policy

The Reagan Administration's civil rights policy received a failing grade, according to two reports released in March. One report, prepared by the staff of the House Labor Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities, chaired by Rep. Augustus Hawkins (D-Calif.), accuses the Administration of failing to articulate a clear policy with respect to EEO law enforcement and of tolerating conflicting policy statements by administration officials.

Such unclear and contradictory statements, it points out, have fueled the misunderstanding about affirmative action. The report stresses that enforcement and coordination of EEO laws had been improving before Reagan, leading to an increased representation of women and minorities throughout the workforce.

Although current changes in EEO policies were initiated in the name of deregulation and less paperwork, the report charges that the true motive is actually to "decrease significantly the government's regulation of those who would practice or condone employment discrimination at the expense of those who are victims of such employment discrimination".

The Subcommittee report recommends that the Administration issue a "strong and unequivocal statement" in support of nondiscrimination and affirmative action and that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) be given clear responsibility for setting EEO enforcement policy and for coordinating enforcement activities among the federal agencies. It also urges that vacant Commission positions be filled quickly with "knowledgeable, respected persons,' that the proposed revisions of affirmative action regulations be withdrawn, and that efforts be made to strengthen the link between federally funded training programs and affirmative action obligations of federal contrac-

tors.

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The other report, entitled "Without Justice," was prepared by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, an umbrella organization of more than 150 national organizations. It charges that the Department of Justice under the Reagan Administration has failed to enforce the civil rights laws in employment, education, housing and voting. The Department, it says, has "cooperated in the corruption of the legal process by allowing its decisions to be shaped by appeals from politicians not based on law". 'The Conference report states that Attorney General William French Smith and Assistant Attorney General William Bradford Reynolds have unilaterally adopted policies which reverse years of commitment to civil rights.

"The common thread running through actions is a desire by the Justice Department to narrow the remedies available to minorities, women, handicapped people, and others when their rights have been denied," the report states.

In a speech before the annual meeting of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights recently, Eleanor Holmes Norton, former Chair of the EEOC and now a law professor at Georgetown Law School, stated that organizations need to increase coordination and develop a better defensive strategy to address the attacks on civil rights gains.

She warned of the need to "ward off a Justice Department takeover" of enforcement activities at the EEOC, and called the attacks by Reynolds "a naked power grab" at taking over EEOC authority. Norton stated that operations at the EEOC are "under some danger," and mentioned the possibility of withdrawal of current Commission guidelines on testing, affirmative action, and pregnancy.

Within days of Norton's speech, Acting Commission Chairman J. Clay Smith told a House Ap-

propriations Subcommittee that the proposed budget for the EEOC would lead to a reduction in staff and the likelihood of decreased litigation activity. Commission policy would be reevaluated under the direction of the new chairman who would, he cautioned, determine what priorities will be taken "according to the policy of the President". Smith's resignation as Acting Chairman was effective March 3, 1982, although he plans to serve the remaining four months of his term as a Commissioner.

Clarence Thomas, a conservative black lawyer, is Reagan's current choice to head the EEOC. Confirmation of Reagan's previous nominee, William Bell, fell through after running into objections from numerous civil rights groups. As one of the preparers ⚫ of the Reagan transition team report on the EEOC, Clarence Thomas helped to mold the Reagan Administration's current approach to equal employment opportunity. That report accused the EEOC of creating "a new racism in America" and urged an end to the use of affirmative action as a way to overcome discrimination. It also criticized use of EEOC resources to pursue charges of sexual harassment and questioned the Commission's guidelines on pregnancy discrimination. The report further expounded its faith in the "free market system" to determine wages, and advocated changing the burden of proof to the person filing a charge of discrimination. That person would then be required to prove not simply that the discrimination occurred, but also that the

Nestle Boycott Still On

(HerSay)—A boycott of Nestle products will continue, despite the company's release last month of changes in its infant formula policy, according to Grace Eggland of INFACT, an organization which has long criticized the promotion techniques used by Nestle to sell its formula. Critics of the firm allege that Nestle's habit of handing out free samples of the product is dangerous to infants' health, especially in poor countries where the formula may be weakened through dilution or contaminated with polluted

water.

The changes in Nestle's policy include giving free samples not to the public, but only to physicians who request them. Nestle also announced it will set up "an ethics audit committee" of clergy and medical people.

Eggland calls such changes insufficient. She points out that international standards require doctors to receive samples of infant formula for testing purposes only, and not for passing on to the public. She also questions the objectivity of the ethics committee Nestle plans to establish. The boycott will continue, she says, at least until the company agrees to the establishment of "an objective monitoring system," and until that system reports that more concrete changes have been made in Nestle's marketing of its formula.

Rabbinical Revolt

(HerSay)-A female rabbi predicts the ordination of women will strengthen and revolutionize Judaism, Rabbi Laura Geller says the presence of women clergy disrupts the rabbi's image as someone separate and superior to the congregation.

Geller says a woman is regarded as "just a woman. And if a woman can do it, anyone can". When that attitude combines with the presence of female clergy, she says, people will stop looking at the rabbi as the only person who can lead them, and will start taking. more responsibility for their religion.

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NATIONAL NEWS

employer deliberately intended to discriminate. The transition report also urged a freeze on new guidelines and lawsuits and the implementation of a private sector advisory committee "to insure sufficient input for those against whom many charges are filed". The report also advocated ending the EEOC's role, acquired under the Carter Administration, as lead agency for coordinating and implementing the federal government's EEO policy.

Gay Prisoners

(HerSay)—A committee in Norway is seeking information on the status of lesbian and gay prisoners around the world. The Ad Hoc Committee of the Homosexual Prisoners Agency plans to present its findings to European human rights officials meeting in France this month. The group will also make a report at the International Gay Association Meeting in Washington this June. People with information for the committee should contact Jan Olav Brynjulfsen, Ragna Nilsensvei 1, Oslo 5, Norway.

Her Own Business

(HerSay)--The American woman is discovering her place at the top, according to the Women's Business Enterprise Division of the Small Business Administration. The SBA reports the percentage of women who have become self-employed is rising at five times the rate for men.

Sally Douglas, of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, says women are eager to run their own ventures because many "view owning their own businesses as power over their own destinies".

In With the New

(HerSay)-The Congressional Women's Caucus has vanished from the political scene. Actually, the organization still exists, but under a new name. Last month the group officially became the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues.

The group decided a name change was in order once it decided to let male members of Congress join. Sixty-six men have become members since November.

Feminist Tax Revolt

(HerSay)-Twelve employees of a West German feminist magazine have announced they will not cooperate with a NATO decision to house nuclear warheads in their country. NATO recently decided to place Pershing Two and Cruise missiles in West Germany beginning in 1983, a move widely opposed by the women's peace movement in that country.

Now the staff of the Berlin-based Courage Magazine has announced they will hold back 10 percent of their taxes until NATO changes its mind. In a letter to tax authorities, the women of Courage reported they will put the funds in escrow until the government can assure them their taxes will be for peaceful uses.

The women's decision is part of a widening women's tax revolt in West Germany, aimed at resisting the arms race. The women base their call to resistance. the actions of two U.S. pacifists in the American South, both of whom served terms in American jails for their protests. The motto of the West German movement is, "Not a penny more for the military".

April, 1982/What She Wants/Page 3.