NV_RERC_2011

2011 LegiSLatiVe RePoRt CaRDoN RaCiaL equity

facing race

neVada

PLan

Possv Lshp all o nv

Fcing Rc 2011: Lgisltiv Rprt Crd n Rcil equity is  cllbrtiv ffrt f PLaN nd applid Rsrch Cntr.

Cover Photo: istockphoto

PLaN uss rsrch, public ductin, ldrship dvlpmnt nd grssrts rgnizing tbuild pwr nd crt mr humn slutins t Nvd’s prblms. our missin is t buildcllctiv strtgic ctin mng clitin prtnrs in rdr t dpn dmcrcy nd chivgrtr scil justic in Nvd.

Progressive LeadershiP aLLiance of nevada | 1

introduction

the history o our great state is blemished with a pattern oinstitutional and cultural abuse

– sometimes marked by violence – towardcommunities o color. Te town athers o Reno burned Chinatown to the ground twice.

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Te United Nations Committee on the Elimination o Racial Discrimination ound aslate as 2006 that Western Shoshone people were “being denied their traditional rights toland.”

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Nevada enacted our miscegenation laws and a school segregation statute (prohib-iting blacks, Asians and Native Americans rom attending public schools) between 1865and 1957.

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Nevada schools were not desegregated until the 1960’s.More recently, when Nevada’s boom went bust, communities o color were hardest hit by oreclosures, bankruptcies and unemployment. When the poverty rate nearly doubled inNevada between the years 2000-2010, the disproportionate share was borne by peopleo color. Disparities in health outcomes, graduation rates and other leading indicators o social well-being continue to plague the Silver State.Ordinary people worked hard over the years to eradicate the worst orms o racism inNevada. We can build on their eorts and make 21

st

century Nevada a state where allpeople have equal access to education, health care and economic resources.In 2009, the Progressive Leadership Alliance o Nevada released Nevada’s rst report cardto hold state decision-makers accountable or the votes they cast on bills related to racialequity. Te report card documented stark disparities along racial lines in key indicatorsrelating to education equity, economic equity, health equity and civil rights. Tese indica-tors measured what we value, whom our institutions serve and what kind o state we willbecome. We called on Nevada leaders to make racial equity a top state priority in order toavert continued crises and to promote well-being or all people in the state.Te 2011 report shows some lawmakers are willing to step up or all Nevadans, not justthe wealthy. Trough voting records, the report documents the commitment o the 2011Legislature to strengthen Nevada’s inrastructure with policies that promote equity andopportunity in our state. It also documents Governor Sandoval’s veto o seven out o teen bills that promised to advance racial equity in Nevada.Racial disparities are rooted in policy decisions and institutional actions dating back prior to statehood, and they are grounded in our national history. Tey are not solely theresult o legislative activity or the Governor’s veto pen. However, the uture prosperity o Nevada’s entire population is at stake as public investments in education, health care and workorce development are undermined. Te passage o a new state budget, with $700million in additional cuts above the last biennium, will crush the aspirations o parentsor their children to lead a better lie in Nevada. As seen with the current nancial crisisacing Nevada, the hardest hit will be communities o color. Te racial ault lines aregrowing deeper. At the same time, people o color are moving rom the minority to the majority popula-tion in Nevada. Whites make up 54 percent o the population, compared to 65 percent in2000. Latinos comprise 27 percent o Nevada’s population, up rom 20 percent in 2000.Even more telling is that Nevada has the second largest racial generation gap in the nation,in which 20 percent more o our children are o color than adults.