TITLE Conftonting Racial Isolation in Miami. INSTITUTION Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 217 116 CD 022 307 TITLE Conftonting Racial Isolation in Miami. INSTITUTION Commission on Civil Rights, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Jun 82 NOTE 362p. EDRS PRICE MF01/PC15 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Bilingual Education; Black Community; *Blacks; *Community Characteristics; Community Programs; Delinquency; *Equal Education; *Equal Opportunities (Jobs); Ethnic Discrimination; Federal Programs; Hispanic Americans; Housing Needs; Public Policy; *Racial Discrimination; School Desegregation; Unemployment; Urban Demography; *Urban Problems; Vocational Education IDENTIFIERS Dade County Public Schools FL; *Florida (Miami); Juvepile Justice System ABSTRACT This report presents the findings of research and public hearings on the development of racial isolation in Miami, Florida. Maintaining that Miami's black community is isolated from the city as a whole, and that the sense of black isolation and frustration precipitated the civil disturbances in Miami in May of 1980, the report examines the causes of black alienation and the role of public and private leadership in correcting the situation. Identified as a major influence in the development of racial alienation is the urban renewal program which pushed large numbers of blacks out of their traditional neighborhoods and into isolated and severely deteriorated areas. Other manifestations of black isolation include high unemployment .and a lack of access to job training and advancement, adequate housing, the justice system, and equal educational opportunities among the city's black and minority population. It is concluded that solving Miami's problems requires a coordinated effort of public and private sectors to eliminate the underlying causes of racial isolation. Such efforts, it is maintained, should be directed toward dropout prevention; maximum school desegregation; efficient vocational and bilingual instruction; improved housing conditions; affirmative action in employment; and provision of greater access to the juvenile justice system and related services. (Author/MJL) ***************************************************u******************* * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** T I U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION -NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ED", A' , tt ---,,,R,,,, 1ORMATiON ER, t it; td 15 d .Hlr, V P lir L I ',.,t 1, al ,lt t,10Clf rfler t it ^ot- PY,11,,r r-prestrslott,wiNIE DOStliOr ur pom . U. S. CCVNISSICN al CIVIL RIGH'I'S The U. S. Commission on Civil Rights is a temporary independent, bipartisan agency established byCongress in 1957 and directed to: . Investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap, ornational origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices: . study and collect informatiazconcerning legal developments constituting discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under theConstitution because A of race,-color,-religion, sex, agP, handicap, or national origin, or in the administration ofjustice; . Appraise Federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protectionof the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age,handicap, or national origin, or in theadministration. Serve as a national clearinghouse forinformation in respect to discrimination ordenial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex,- age, handicap, or national origin; the . Submit reports, findings, and recommendations to President and the Congress. HEWERS CF THE CC614ISSIC1d .Clarence M.-Pendleton, Jr.,Chairman May Louise Seth, ViceChairMan Mary Frances Berry Blandina Cardenas Ramirez Jill S. Ruckelshaus Murray Saltzman' Jahn Hope III, Acting StaffDirector UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS EMI raskingion. D. C. 20425 THE PRESIDENT THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Sirs: The United States Commission on Civil Rights transmits this report to you pursuant to Public Law 85-315, as amended. Confronting Racial Isolation in Miami is based upon Commission public hearings held in Miami, Florida after the civil disturbances in that city in May of 1980and upon research conducted prior to, during andsince the hearings. , The reportexamines the-roleo-f-local4-State-and Federal governments and the private sector in the development of racial isolation in Miami. ,The manifestationsof thit isolation include high unemployment and a lack of access to job training andiiadvancement, adequatehousing, the justice system, and equal educational opportunity for the city's black population. The success with which these problems are addressed will have profound implications for the civil rights status of the residents of Miami and, perhaps, for the Nation as a whole. ,The. report concludes that greater commitment and a coordination of effort and resources on the part of all levels of government and the private sector inMiami will be required to make meaningful in that city ourNation's promise of equality for all. It is our hope that the findings and recommendations contained in this report will, be of assistance in this regard. Respectfully, Clarence M. Pendleton, Jr., Chairman Mary Louise Smith, Vice Chairman Mary F. Berry Blandina Cardenas Ramirez Jill S. Ruckelshaus Murray Saltzman John Hope III, Aching Staff Director iii n 4 PREFWg In Mai 1980,Miami and the surrounding political jurisdiction of Dade County became the scene of thefirst major racial disturbances of the decade. Subsequent disturbances occurred in Miami and other American cities.After reviewing events in Miami, the'White House InteragencyTask BOrce on Civil Djsturhance in Miami - Dade Countyconcluded that urban tensions have not decreased since themid-1960s. The underlying causes...(cd] violence... exist in virtually every depressed inner citY community in the country. The anger, frustration: fear and hopelessness ds expressed...by the black citizens Of [Miami] are identical to thosedocumented in the report of the National Advisory COmaission on Civil Disordersof 1968. 1/ current conditions in the Nation'scities indicate that discrimination based on race and ethnicitycontinue to permeate and undermine the lives of the urban poor. It remains unclear whether the progiams and attemptedsolutions of the 1960s and 1970s failed or whether those efforts weresimply overtaken by unanpcipated recent changes in America. Some suggest that the Civil 1/ White House Interagency Task PorceFeport co rasturbance in Miami -Dade County, Florida(1981), p. 1. Nation treated only the symptoms -of protest and unrest and failed to achieve lasting structural change. Others have -charged that the efforts to produce national change were half-hearted and underfunded.The possible explanations are many, and events pi Miami raise questions about tlw_Nation's_ capacity to meet the dhpllenge of its pluralistic origins-. Prompted ty the civil disturbances of May 1980, the Commission undertook an investigation that focused primarily on federal laws and policies. In the process, the Commission encountered a black community, once vibrant and economically viable, that has been'iSolated and excluded from the explosion of economic growth occurring all around it in the last two decades. Beyond the specific findings included in this report, the Commission found that sustained displacement and exclusion from economic opportunity and mobility have resulted in a serious erosion of spirit in the black community. Where the prospects for success have continuously become dimmer, apathy has replaced drive and amibition among many of Miaii's black residents. There are sufficient exceptions to this observation to indicate that the potential for the black community's economic viability remains.However, unless a racially conscious effort is made to overcome the social and economic disadvantages imposed on black Miamians and to offer them the opportunity to develop a prosperous community again, the vi 6 -ii=17111 4 present sense of alienationand frustration willcontinue to pervade black life in Dade Cbunty. After reViewingthe underlying conditions and events leading to the civil disturbances in the greaterMiami community, the Cormiissicerlreommand courses of action that should be taken if. other urban areas are to prevent atragedy .simch as that which became pawn asLiberty City. vii Acknowledgements The Commission is indebted to the following staff membeis who participated in the preparation of this report under the supervision of Paul Alexander, ActingGeneral Counsel and Michael.C. MCGoings, Assistant General Counsel; Letvia Arza-Goderich, Christopher G. Bell, Sylvia J. Eastman, Peggy Y. Mummy, SusaaMr-Duffie, Anne H. Meadows, StephedO'Rourke, Karen,Primack, Ricki L. Seidman, lad Derry D. Stewart, staff attorneys, and Laura Chin,* editOt-Consultant. The report is based on public hearings held in Miami, Florida, under the direction of Paul Alexander and Michael MOGoings. Staff members participating in the field investigation and hearings included James Arisman, Letvia Arza- Goderich, Christopher G. Bell, Elaine M. Esparza, Clinton M. Fried, Donald Inniss, James Karantonis, Idalia A. Morales, fbea Morales; Stephen O'Rourke, 'amela V. Proctor, Ricki L. Seidman, Derryl D. Stewart, Carole Williams, Ana M. Dew, Mary Grose, Lorraine W. Jackson, Frances C. Lee, Sheila Lyon, Deborah Marks* and Nhomi'S. Tinsley. The Commission also expresses its appreciation to

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