----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 4:02 AM
Subject: Please Oppose the Nomination of Gerald Reynolds
March 07, 2002
Senator Jeff
Bingaman,
I am writing to urge you to oppose the nomination of Gerald
Reynolds as Assistant Secretary of
Education for Civil
Rights.
I strongly oppose the nomination and or confirmation of Gerald
Reynolds as Assistant Secretary
of Education for Civil Rights. I believe Mr.
Reynolds has proven to be bias and unwilling, thus unable
to be fair in his decision making and the influence
he will have. Which will have adverse effects on
the lives he has shown to
have much distain for the laws that protect them.
The Assistant Secretary
of Education for Civil Rights is responsible for developing Departmental
civil rights policy, monitoring recipients of
Departmental funds for compliance with anti-discrimination
laws, supervising desegregation efforts,
investigating complaints of discrimination and bringing administrative
actions. Mr. Reynolds holds extreme positions on many civil rights issues,
is openly
hostile toaffirmative action, and minimizes the
pernicious effects of racism and discrimination.
In his advocacy
before Congress, Mr. Reynolds has expressed his disdain for laws which require
strong justification for practices that have an
adverse impact on racial minorities and other groups.
These views would do severe damage not only to
African-Americans and Latinos, but to women and
people with disabilities.
Furthermore, the
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, in 1999, identified a need to
protect
LGBT students from the pervasive victimization and
harassment they often encounter. The previous administration exhibited an
impressive commitment to all students regardless of sexual orientation
and
gender identity, and the new Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights
has a responsibility
to continue this invaluable commitment. Mr.
Reyonlds' hostility toward commonly held values of the civil
rights community leads us believe that he would not
only disregard the work of the previous administration with respect to lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender issues, but he would also actively work to reverse
the progress made by the Office of Civil
Rights.
If confirmed, Mr. Reynolds' positions and influence
on education policy at the Department of Education
would further diminish equality of educational
opportunity for thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
students. According to GLSEN's 2001 National School Climate Survey, four
out of five
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students
experience verbal, sexual and physical harassment in school. Clearly, this
vulnerable population needs more not less protection. The successful
nomination
of Gerald Reynolds would diminish the strides this
country has made to ensure that all Americans benefit
from an education free of discrimination.
I
urge you to oppose the nomination of Gerald Reynolds as the Assistant Secretary
of Education for Civil Rights.
Sincerely,
R. Zeke
Fread
Tampa, FL 33629-6022