Support for Sotomayor... Valuing Women... Valuing Diversity... National Organization for Women

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The following is a copy and paste (shortened and reformated somewhat for inclusion here) of an online document published by the National Organization for Women (NOW).

"It's Every Woman's Job...

Eliminating racism is a priority and the responsibility of every member of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Racism is not a matter of individual attitudes. It is an institutionalized system of power and control over people of racial and ethnic diversity in this society...

Racism and sexism are the 'double whammy' that stands in the way of empowerment for women of racial and ethnic diversity in the United States and in many other parts of the world.

NOW members work to eliminate racism by lobbying legislators, sponsoring educational programs, organizing consciousness raising groups and taking direct action.

NOW focuses on the needs of women of racial and ethnic diversity through projects on:

Education
Employment
Reproductive Rights
Feminization of Poverty...

Education

NOW has long been in the forefront of the struggle for equal educational opportunities for women. Education is a vital tool to break the poverty trap. That's why the restoration of Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments, a law prohibiting sex discrimination, was a priority and why strengthening Title IX enforcement remains a priority...

Employment

The majority of women of racial and ethnic diversity are segregated into low-paying jobs and are disproportionately represented among the working poor. In 1986, women of racial and ethnic diversity were paid on the average less than 58 cents for every dollar men were paid. NOW is committed to eliminating job segregation, to fighting for pay equity in the marketplace and to increasing the minimum wage for the working poor in the United States...

Feminization of Poverty

Many experts predict that by the year 2000 women and children will make up nearly 100 percent of this nation's poor. NOW recognizes that women of racial and ethnic diversity, again, are disproportionately represented among those forced to live in poverty. NOW fights for the restoration of federal funding for programs that benefit women and children, for national health care, for an end to discrimination in housing, for an adequate supply of housing, for publicly-funded child care, Family and Medical Leave, and against 'workfare' that penalizes poor women..."

"Valuing Diversity"; National Organization for Women (NOW); http://www.now.org/issues/diverse/valuing.html)

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NS