Preserving Civil Rights 1984 General Resolution

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court decision in February 1984 in the Grove City Case narrowed significantly the applicability of Title IX, the Women's Educational Equity Act; and

WHEREAS, again in June 1984 the Court upheld in the Memphis Firefighters' Case the "last hired, first fired" rule which, if given the broad interpretation of the US Justice Department, would weaken severely the principle of affirmative action; and

WHEREAS, these decisions, and the US Administration's advocacy of these positions, are part of an ongoing erosion of hard-won gains in civil rights; and

WHEREAS, historically, the Unitarian Universalist Association has championed the rights of the underprivileged; and

WHEREAS, the need for action is urgent;

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1984 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association:

  1. Requests that the Association publicly express regret for the decisions;
  2. Encourages active Unitarian Universalist participation in civil rights coalitions and the resistance by these coalitions of US Justice Department efforts to undermine affirmative action;
  3. Requests that the Association and individual Unitarian Universalists in the United States urge the Senate to act promptly on legislation to restore broad coverage of the civil rights statutes (Title IX, Title VII, Section 501, Age Discrimination Act) which were in place prior to the Grove City decision; and
  4. Requests that the Association and individual Unitarian Universalists in the United States urge Congress and cities to act constructively on work-sharing initiatives to insure that no group of workers is required to bear the full burden of lay-offs when seniority clashes with affirmative action.