http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/press_releases/20081103_304.html http://www.usunnewyork.usmission.gov/press_releases/20081103_304.html
November 3, 2008


Assembly, on the agenda item Elimination of Racism and Racial Discrimination in the Third Committee of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly, November 3, 2008 

The United States Government strongly supports the elimination of racial discrimination at home and abroad. Our nation was founded on the principle that all people are created equal, that government may not interfere with rights of the individual, and that the rights of every person are diminished when the rights of one are threatened. Nonetheless, the United States has struggled to overcome the legacies of racism, racial and ethnic intolerance, and past discriminatory policies and beliefs. Today we are a multi-racial and multi-ethnic democracy in which individuals have the right to be protected against discrimination based on race, color and national origin in virtually every aspect of public life. Americans from diverse backgrounds have risen to the top levels of government, academia, the medical and legal professions, the press, and every other field of endeavor thanks to a system that today offers equal opportunity based on merit and the rule of law. We are the first to acknowledge, however, that challenges still exist and that a great deal of work remains to be done. 

Issues relating to race, ethnicity and national origin continue to play a role in American society and are a constant focus of attention throughout our government. Last year, the United States Justice Department celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Division. This division, charged with enforcing the Nation's laws prohibiting discrimination, began in 1939. The division has grown from an office with 6 to 7 attorneys to approximately 700 personnel – and that is just those based in Washington, DC. Thousands of other workers in the federal government, in our fifty States, and in local governments work every day to help fight discrimination and to advance the equality of opportunity for all. Equally important is the role played by our courts, in acting as a neutral watch dog to ensure that the legal guarantees in the U.S. Constitution and our laws are enforced and that victims of discrimination have both recourse to the courts and legal remedies for redress. 
The challenge before us – to break down stereotypes and battle ignorance and hatred – is not one that government alone can achieve. We are also extremely proud of our private sector and of our civil society, which include thousands of organizations and companies devoted to teaching tolerance and understanding and promoting racial equality. We strongly believe that without this discourse, without the freedom for each every individual to express his or her beliefs, we would not be where are today. Indeed, our own civil rights movement began as one of nonviolent civil disobedience. 
My government is very concerned by a trend – in this body and other UN foras – of conflating issues of racism and religion. Let me first be clear that the United States abhors racism and discrimination, abhors intolerant speech, and condemns its use and dissemination. However, racism and religious intolerance are two distinct issues that merit attention. 
My government is also troubled by the approaches taken by many delegations to focus their efforts on prohibiting speech, whether through defamation of religion or Article 20 of the ICCPR, rather than focusing on the promotion of the freedoms and rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is not the role of the government to decide which opinions and views our citizens and residents can share with one another. We are very concerned by numerous incidents in which governments have jailed or punished individuals for inciting hostility, insulting religion, or defaming religion when, in reality, these individuals were doing nothing more than sharing their interpretation of their own religion - one that happens to be at odds with the government's interpretation. We strongly believe that the cure for intolerance is more understanding, more dialogue and more speech, not less. We have confidence that in a free society, hateful ideas will fail on account of their own intrinsic lack of merit. For this reason, our efforts are better spent focusing on changing discriminatory laws and practices and promoting tolerance through dialogue. 
We believe the United Nations must continue to address the issue of race and racism. In particular, Member States should be encouraged to implement their obligations taken under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which to date has over 170 State Parties. Particular emphasis should be placed not only on eliminating any remaining formal legal barriers to equality, but also on confronting the reality of continuing discrimination and inequality within our institutions and societies. Our emphasis should be on achieving full equality by implementing existing legal obligations.
Our position on one conference, the World Conference Against Racism, hosted in Durban seven years ago, is well known. We were – and remain – deeply disappointed that what should have been an opportunity for genuine dialogue and exchange turned instead into an event pervaded with anti-Semitism and focused excessively on demonizing Israel, even though Israel is itself a multi-ethnic, tolerant, democratic society. The same cannot be said for some of the countries that attack Israel for supposed racism. Regrettably, the planned follow-up conference appears to be following the same trajectory. The recently issued compilation of proposed paragraphs for use in the drafting process of the outcome document for the Durban Review Conference contains dozens of unfair, unbalanced, and often flatly untrue statements about a single country – and once again this country is Israel -- with a corresponding lack of emphasis on more serious problems in countries around the world. 
Our fervent hope is that UN Member States will find a way to move forward in a different way – and take positive steps together toward the eradication of discrimination and racism and the full realization of human rights for all. 
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.