ONE AMERICA IN THE 21st CENTURY The President's Initiative on Race

"Today, I ask the American people to join me in a great national effort to perfect the promise of America for this new time as we seek to build our more perfect union....That is the unfinished work of our time, to lift the burden of race and redeem the promise of America."

-- President Clinton, June 14, 1997

The President's Plan. The President is leading the nation in an effort to become One America in the 21st Century: a place where we respect others' differences and, at the same time, embrace the values that unite us. To achieve this goal, President Clinton developed the following plan:

1. Develop Policy That Offers Opportunity To All Those Who Work For It. Taking the recommendation of the President's Advisory Board, the primary focus of our policy actions will be to enhance educational and economic opportunity. A number of policy actions have been announced, including creating education empowerment zones, increasing quality teaching in undeserved areas and stepping up enforcement to stop discrimination in housing.
2. Engage Americans In A Broad And Constructive Dialogue. The President is encouraging communities across the country to engage in constructive dialogues on race. He is calling on them, not only to stand against discrimination, but also to build greater understanding across racial line and to find resolutions to honest differences. From constructive dialogue, positive actions take root, like the Akron Coming Together Project.
3. Highlight Promising Practices That Are Working. Community efforts are crucial to the success of the President's Initiative on Race. In communities throughout the country, people are working to bridge racial divides and to create equal opportunity for all. The Race Initiative staff is identifying and creating a compilation of these efforts, named "promising practices," so that others may participate in them or replicate them in their own communities, schools, businesses and religious organizations. These promising practices have been highlighted on the One America web site, in remarks by the President and at Advisory Board meetings.
4. Recruit Leaders. The President is reaching out to leaders in several areas of American life with a special emphasis on recruiting youth, education, religious and business leaders. "One America" leaders are those people who take up the President's call by organizing efforts in their communities or professions. Through their leadership, the President's Initiative on Race will reach communities throughout the nation.
5. Advisory Board. The President appointed a small, diverse group that will advise and assist him in outreach efforts and consultations with experts. They were chosen based on their outstanding leadership on this issue and their contributions to America's ongoing dialogue about race and reconciliation.
6. Deliver A Report from the President. This winter the President will issue a report in which he will: 1) present his vision of One America, including an assessment of the growing diversity of our nation; 2) reflect the work that has occurred during the initiative; and 3) provide recommendations and solutions that enable individuals, communities, businesses, public and private organizations and government at all levels to address difficult issues and build on our best possibilities.

Accomplishments Report