ERASING AMERICA'S COLOR LINES

WASHINGTON - At the beginning of the last century, the great
African-American scholar and civil rights leader W. E. B. Dubois said,
"The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line." He
was right.

But because of the lessons and sacrifice of people like Martin Luther
King Jr., whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow, we can write a new
preamble to the 21st century, in which color differences are not the
problem, but the promise, of America.

We don't have a moment to lose. America is undergoing one of the great
demographic transformations in our history. According to the latest
census figures, nearly one in 10 people in the United States was born
in another country. Today there is no majority racial or ethnic group
in Hawaii or California or Houston or New York City. In a little more
than 50 years, there will be no majority race in America.

As our nation grows ever more diverse, the world grows ever more
interdependent. If we make the most of our diversity, we will enhance
our success in the global information age.

We have moved out of the epicenter of racial conflict that rocked our
nation from the time of conquest through slavery, the Japanese
internment and the tumultuous days of the civil rights era. But we
still experience the aftershocks.

Tomorrow, I am sending a message to Congress outlining the unfinished
business of building One America. In it, I issue a concrete set of
challenges and recommendations that I hope will be helpful, not only
to the 107th Congress and the new administration, but to all of us as
we continue the important work of righting the wrongs of the past
while building a future of greater opportunity for all.

It is true that more of us are living, learning and working together
across the lines of race and ethnicity than ever before. And people of
color have more opportunity than ever before. Still, we see evidence
of inequality in the long list of disparities in employment and
wealth, education, criminal justice and health that still so often
break down along the color line. The next step in our long march to
racial reconciliation is to expand opportunity and close these
intolerable gaps.

My message to Congress makes recommendations in a number of areas. For
example, there is perhaps no area today in which perceptions of
fairness differ so greatly, depending on one's race, than the
administration of criminal justice.

If you are white, you most likely believe the system is fair. If you
belong to a minority group, you most likely feel the opposite. If we
want to keep crime coming down, we need to instill trust in our
criminal justice system.

We can begin by ending the practice of racial profiling. We know
racial profiling exists. We know it is wrong. And it should be
illegal, everywhere. As we continue our efforts to document the extent
of the problem, we should pass a federal law banning the practice of
racial profiling.

We should also re-examine our federal sentencing policies,
particularly mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent offenders. We
should immediately reduce the disparity between crack and
powder-cocaine sentences. And we should pass legislation to provide
greater access to DNA testing and competent counsel for defendants in
death penalty cases.

The struggle for equal justice in America also includes the struggle
for voting rights. In the presidential election of 2000, too many
people felt the votes they cast were not counted, and some felt there
were organized efforts to keep them from the polls.

We must do more to ensure that more people vote and that every vote is
counted. To that end, I urge the new administration to appoint a
nonpartisan presidential commission on electoral reform, headed by
distinguished citizens like former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy
Carter. Such a commission should gather facts and determine the causes
- - in every state - of voting disparities, including those involving
race, class and ethnicity. It should make recommendations to Congress
about how to achieve fair, inclusive and uniform standards for voting
and vote counting. It should also work to prevent voter suppression
and intimidation and to increase voter participation.

Here are two places to start: We should make Election Day a national
holiday. And it is long past time to give back the right to vote to
ex-offenders who have paid their debts to society.

My message to Congress recommends actions to close other racial and
ethnic gaps, including those in education and in the health of our
people. And it calls for equal treatment under the law for immigrants
from Central America and Haiti, many of whom have fled civil unrest
and human rights abuses to seek a new life in America.

Government cannot do this work alone. Building One America is the work
of every American. Whether you are able to help a single child or lead
a national movement for justice, it all begins with a personal
commitment. As Dr. King once said: "No social advance rolls in on the
wheels of inevitability. Every step toward the goal of justice
requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions
and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

I have tried to honor those words each day of my presidency. I pledge
to continue the important work of building One America as I return to
the most important job of all: citizen.