WHEREAS, recently the Justice Department of the United States, at the direct urging of President Ford, first considered, then rejected a plan to intervene actively to limit school busing, one of the few substantive remedies ever put into effect to combat school segregation; and

WHEREAS, this has given encouragement to those who believe they may speak and act out their hatreds; and

WHEREAS, there has been a dreadful and dramatic upsurge in the expressions of racial and religious bigotry in our nation, evidenced by the overt activities of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party in Chicago and elsewhere; and

WHEREAS, threats and harassment of our minority populations are on the increase; and

WHEREAS, cross burnings, beatings, and other dismal echoes of hatreds we had prayed were extinguished and silenced have again been witnessed and heard;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That we declare such behavior at all levels to be abhorrent to the American conscience, and unacceptable in any form in our midst; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we call upon the President of the United States to affirm a policy of continued support for school desegregation through busing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we reaffirm our historic position against racial bigotry and religious intolerance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we call upon all law enforcement agencies of this nation to investigate vigorously and bring to justice swiftly all those individuals and groups guilty of harassment and intimidation against our minority populations; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we call upon all Unitarian Universalist churches, fellowships, ministers, and individual members of our congregations to offer moral, financial, and physical support to any persons who are afflicted for reasons of race or religion either by government or corporate institutions, or by groups, or individuals; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we, as individuals, groups and societies, affirm our position by reaching out to offer our support to responsible minority organizations seeking solutions to this grave problem; and finally

BE IT RESOLVED: That each Unitarian Universalist, as an individual, be urged to speak out and to take affirmative action to aid the members of all minority groups to overcome the deprivation and slander and hurt they have suffered and continue to suffer.