CERD/C/USA/6

page 3

UNITED
NATIONS / CERD
International Convention on
the Elimination
of all Forms of
Racial Discrimination / Distr.
GENERAL
CERD/C/USA/6
24 October 2007
Original: ENGLISH


COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION

OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER ARTICLE 9OF THE CONVENTION

Sixth periodic reports of States parties due in 2005

Addendum

United States of America[*] [**] [***]

[24 April 2007]


CONTENTS

Paragraphs Page

Introduction 1 - 4 5

I. GENERAL 5 - 54 5

A. Background 5 - 6 5

B. Land and people 7 - 38 6

C. General political structure 39 - 40 14

D. General legal framework 41 - 47 14

E. Information and publicity 48 - 51 16

F. Factors affecting implementation 52 - 54 17

II. INFORMATION RELATING TO ARTICLES 2 TO 7 OF
THE CONVENTION 55 - 307 17

A. Article 2 58 - 134 18

1. Information on the legislative, judicial, administrative or
other measures that give effect to the provisions
of article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention 58 - 125 18

2. Information on the special and concrete measures taken in
the social, economic, cultural and other fields to ensure the
adequate development and protection of certain racial
groups or individuals belonging to them, for the purpose
of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of
human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance
with article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention 126 - 134 45

B. Article 3 135 48

C. Article 4 136 - 147 48

1. Information on the legislative, judicial, administrative
or other measures that give effect to the provisions of
article 4 of the Convention, in particular measures taken
to give effect to the undertaking to adopt immediate and
positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to,
or acts of, racial discrimination 136 - 145 48


CONTENTS (continued)

Paragraphs Page

2. Information on appropriate measures taken to give effect
to general recommendations I, VII and XV, on article 4
of the Convention 146 51

3. Information in response to Decision 3 (VII) adopted by
the Committee on 4 May 1973 147 51

D. Article 5 148 - 278 52

1. The right to equal treatment before the tribunals and all
other organs administering justice 149 - 179 53

2. The right to security of person and protection by the
State against violence or bodily harm, whether inflicted
by government officials or by an individual group or
institution 180 - 198 62

3. Political rights - information on the means for
guaranteeing these rights, and on their enjoyment
in practice 199 - 217 66

4. Other civil rights 218 71

5. Economic, social and cultural rights 219 - 278 71

E. Article 6 279 - 289 90

1. Information on the legislative, judicial, administrative
or other measures that give effect to the provisions of
article 6 of the Convention, in particular measures
taken to assure to everyone effective protection and
remedies, through competent national tribunals and
other State institutions, against any acts of racial
discrimination which violate his/her human rights
and fundamental freedoms 279 - 286 90

2. Measures taken to assure to everyone the right to seek
from such tribunals just and adequate reparation or
satisfaction for any damage as a result of such
discrimination 287 92


CONTENTS (continued)

Paragraphs Page

3. Information on the practice and decisions of courts and
other judicial and administrative organs relating to cases
of racial discrimination as defined under article 1 of the
Convention 288 92

4. Information in connection with general
recommendation XXVI 289 92

F. Article 7 290 - 307 93

III. CONCLUSION 308 97

IV. COMMITTEE COMMENTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 309 - 358 98

Introduction

1. The Government of the United States of America welcomes the opportunity to report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on measures giving effect to its undertakings under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), pursuant to article 9 thereof. This document constitutes the fourth, fifth, and sixth periodic reports of the United States. Its organization follows the General Guidelines regarding the form and contents of periodic reports to be submitted by States parties, adopted by the Committee in August 2000 (CERD/C/70/Rev.5) and the guidelines for Initial Parts of State Party Reports (“Core Documents”) (HRI/GEN/2/Rev 3) of 8 May 2006.

2. This report was prepared by the U.S. Department of State with extensive assistance from the White House, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and other relevant departments and agencies of the federal government and of the states. Contributions were also solicited and received from interested members of the numerous non-governmental organizations and other public interest groups active in the area of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.

3. The United States submitted its initial, second, and third periodic reports as a single document to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in September 2000, hereinafter “Initial U.S. Report” or “Initial Report.” A copy can be viewed at http://www.state.gov/. The United States made its oral presentation to the Committee on August3 and 6, 2001. Accordingly, the purpose of this fourth, fifth, and sixth periodic report is to provide an update of relevant information since the submission of the Initial Report.

4. The legal and policy framework through which the United States gives effect to its Convention undertakings has not changed dramatically since the Initial Report. As described in that Report, the United States Constitution; the constitutions of the various states and territories; and federal, state, and territorial law and practice provide strong and effective protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, and national origin in all fields of public endeavor and with regard to substantial private conduct as well. These protections, as administered through executive action and the judicial system, continue to apply.

I. GENERAL

A. Background

5. The information provided in this report supplements that provided in the Initial U.S. Report filed in 2000 (CERD/C/351/Add.1). It also supplements the information provided by the U.S. delegation at the meetings of the Committee, which discussed the Initial U.S. Report on August 3 and 6, 2001 (CERD/C/SR/1474, 1475, 1476). The information provided herein takesinto account the concluding observations of the Committee (CERD/A/56/18, paragraphs380407), published on August 14, 2001, as well as relevant general Committee recommendations and other Committee actions.

6. In this consolidated report, the United States has sought to respond to the Committee’s concerns as fully as possible. In this regard, the United States notes the discussion of U.S. reservations, understandings, and declarations to the Convention contained in paragraphs 145 through 173 of the Initial U.S. Report. The United States maintains its position with regard to these reservations, understandings, and declarations, and with respect to other issues as discussed in this report.

B. Land and people

7. Neither the land area nor the basic federal-state organization of the United States has changed since submission of the Initial U.S. Report in 2000. Nor has there been change in the relationship between the United States and the outlying areas under U.S. jurisdiction - PuertoRico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and several very small islands.

Update of general census data

8. The population of the United States, which was 281.4 million at the time of the2000census, was estimated to be 296.4 million in July 1, 2005 - an increase of approximately 5.3 percent. By the year 2010, the population is projected to be 308.9 million - anincrease of approximately 9.8 percent from 2000; and by 2050, the population is projected to have increased by 49.2 percent from the 2000 figure, to 419.9 million.

9. The U.S. is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural society in which racial and ethnic diversity is ever increasing. Virtually every national, racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious group in the world is represented in the U.S. population. As described in the Initial U.S. Report, the racial and ethnic categories used since 1997 in the U.S. census are: White; Black or African American; American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN); Asian; and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHPI). Members of these racial categories are also classified separately as belonging to one of two ethnic categories: Hispanic or Latino origin, or non-Hispanic or Latino origin.[1]

10. In the 2000 census, 97.6 percent of all respondents reported only one race. The group reporting White alone accounted for 75 percent of the population, down from about 80 percent in 1990. The Black or African American alone population represented just over 12 percent of the total, approximately the same as in 1990. Just under 1 percent of all respondents indicated American Indian and Alaska Native only, also approximately the same as in 1990. About 4percent indicated Asian alone, up from about 3 percent in 1990. The smallest racial group was the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone population, representing 0.1 percent of the total. The remainder of the “one race” respondents - 5.5 percent of all respondents - indicated only the “some other race alone” category, which consisted predominately of persons of
Hispanic origin. This percentage was up from approximately 4 percent in 1990. Two and fourth tenths of a percent of all respondents reported two or more races, and 0.02 percent reported four or more races.

11. Looking at ethnicity, although the U.S. population remains primarily White non-Hispanic, the proportion of the population falling into that category is decreasing. Census projections from March, 2004 show that the White non-Hispanic portion of the population declined from 75.7percent in 1990 to 69.4 percent in 2000, and is projected to decline further to 65.1 percent by 2010 and to 50.1 percent by 2050. Although the number of White non-Hispanic persons in the United States is projected to grow by 2.8 percent from 2000 to 2010, the growth rate for this group is projected to be much lower than the growth rates for other racial and ethnic categories. For example, during the 2000 to 2010 period, the Hispanic (of any race) population is projected to grow by 34.1 percent, the African American population to grow by 12.9 percent, the Asian population to grow by 33.3 percent, and the other races category (American Indian and Alaska Native alone, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, and two or more races) to grow by 30.7 percent. In addition, in 2000 1.2 million people reported Arab ancestry, up from 610,000 in 1980. This represents a 41 percent rate of growth during the 1980s and a 38 percent growth in the 1990s. The table below contains census data on the projected population of the United States by race and Hispanic origin from 2000 to 2050.

Table 1a

Projected population of the United States, by race and Hispanic origin: 2000 to 2050(in thousands except as indicated. As of July 1. Resident population)

Population or percent and race or
Hispanic origin / 2000 / 2010 / 2020 / 2030 / 2040 / 2050
Population
Total / 282 125 / 308 936 / 335 805 / 363 584 / 391 946 / 419 854
White alone / 228 548 / 244 995 / 260 629 / 275 731 / 289 690 / 302 626
Black alone / 35 818 / 40 454 / 45 365 / 50 442 / 55 876 / 61 361
Asian alone / 10 684 / 14 241 / 17 988 / 22 580 / 27 992 / 33 430
All other races1 / 7 075 / 9 246 / 11 822 / 14 831 / 18 388 / 22 437
Hispanic (of any race) / 35 622 / 47 756 / 59 756 / 73 055 / 87 585 / 102 560
White alone, not Hispanic / 195 729 / 201 112 / 205 936 / 209 176 / 210 331 / 210 283
Percent of total population
Total / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0 / 100.0
White alone / 81.0 / 79.3 / 77.6 / 75.8 / 73.9 / 72.1
Black alone / 12.7 / 13.1 / 13.5 / 13.9 / 14.3 / 14.6
Asian alone / 3.8 / 4.6 / 5.4 / 6.2 / 7.1 / 8.0
All other races1 / 2.5 / 3.0 / 3.5 / 4.1 / 4.7 / 5.3
Hispanic (of any race) / 12.6 / 15.5 / 17.8 / 20.1 / 22.3 / 24.4
White alone, not Hispanic / 69.4 / 65.1 / 61.3 / 57.5 / 53.7 / 50.1

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2004, “U.S. Interim Projections by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin,” http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/usinterimproj/.

1 Includes American Indian and Alaska Native alone, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, and two or more races.

12. The distribution of the U.S. population by urban vs. rural residence and region of the country varied considerably by race and ethnicity in 2000. African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans were more likely to live in urban areas (defined as areas with populations of 50,000 or more) than were non-Hispanic Whites. For example, in 2000, although African Americans alone represented only 12.3 percent of the population overall, they constituted 14.6percent of the persons living in urban areas. Likewise, although Hispanics made up only12.5 percent of the population overall, they represented 15.5 percent of urban inhabitants. Asian Americans alone represented 5 percent of urban inhabitants, compared to only 3.6 percent of the population overall. By contrast, non-Hispanic Whites composed 62.7 percent of urban dwellers compared to 69.1 percent of the population overall.