Topic: Compliance

A Look Back: A community teetering on the edge

By Turner McCullough Jr. | October 14, 2007 |

As the city faces ongoing questions related to its Title VI compliance status, it’s worth reflecting on observations noted in a Leaf Chronicle editorial (5/17/06) in the aftermath of the city’s ADA lawsuit settlement. Is it still just ‘the Clarksville Way’ to needlessly waste taxpayer dollars?

Kudo’s to the Leaf Chronicle editorial staff for their editorial acknowledging the need to bring the City into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A second round of Kudo’s to the three members of the ‘Wheel Me On’ group who brought the lawsuit in the first place.

This excerpt from the Leaf Chronicle seems to acknowledge, for the first time, that we have a community problem:

“All of this is eerily similar to the City’s approach to the minority rights [issues] in the police department where ongoing claims of racial discrimination by black officers have led to millions of dollars lost in judgments against the City in Federal Courts.”

“ It’s time to change this mindset about oversight of civil rights. For when the Federal Court has it’s say, you do it right, or pay. And too frequently, that [the latter] is the Clarksville way.”

But does it have to be? «Read the rest of this article»

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Title VI Compliance- After 43 Years Where Does Clarksville Stand?

By Turner McCullough Jr. | June 12, 2007 |

July will mark the 43rd anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the most powerful planks of that law is Title VI. “Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.” In a nutshell, Title VI stipulates that no state, nor any agency of a state, no municipal or city government; no postsecondary or local educational agency or any private entity contracting or partnering with any of the aforementioned governmental entities, shall discriminate in programs and activities which receive federal financial assistance, based on race, ethnicity, color, or national origin.

In calling for its enactment, President John F. Kennedy identified “simple justice” as the justification for Title VI:

“Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes, or results in racial discrimination. Direct discrimination by Federal, State or local governments is prohibited by the Constitution. But indirect discrimination, through the use of Federal funds, is just as invidious; and it should not be necessary to resort to the courts to prevent each individual violation.” See H. R. Misc. Doc. No. 124, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 3, 12 (1963).

«Read the rest of this article»

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