President's Report
Luba Fineson

A Conversation About Racism, April 26th
Is racism fear or is it hatred? If it has to be taught, as the old song goes, how is it taught? Conversely, can racial harmony be taught? In NOW's continuing effort to promote racial understanding, we will present the film The Color of Fear, on April 26th at 7:00 p.m. at Community Church in the Circle, 7 East Lincoln Ave. at Gramatan Ave. in Mt. Vernon. (There is ample parking in the church lot at the rear.) The film shows the fears and feelings of a multi-racial group of men at a weekend retreat.

Sioux Taylor and Peg Morris, members of Westchester NOW, will facilitate a discussion of audience views and experiences following the film and refreshments. Sioux Taylor, founding mother and first president of Westchester NOW is the retired Commissioner of Recreation for the City of Mt. Vernon. She led interracial group study circles for the White Plains Coalition for Cultural and Racial Harmony in 1997 and 1998. Among her many awards are Westchester Woman of the Year, New York State Social Worker of the Year, and most recently, the Westchester County Office on Aging's Outstanding Senior Citizen of the Year. Peg Morris is a Professor of English Literature at Mercy College, currently engaged in research for a biography of the African-American poet Audre Lorde. The diverse population at Mercy College is the basis for her on-going work in race relations. At Westchester NOW, Peg has worked for the past three years with Mt. Vernon's Committee for the Empowerment of People of African-American Ancestry (CEPAA) to bring racial equity to the Mt. Vernon school system.

Co-sponsoring the event are Mt. Vernon United Tenants and the Westchester Coalition for Democracy, a group of 34 county organizations joined together to support constitutional separation of church and state. The event is an opportunity not just to sit and listen, but to be a part of broadening interracial outreach in our county. I urge all NOW members to participate in what will prove to be an inspiring and uplifting evening.

Prison Task Force
Irma Keat, Bea Loren, Audrey Poole and myself met with Assemblywoman Naomi Matusow in December to discuss the unequal effect of recent prison legislation on women inmates. Because Matusow had co-sponsored Jenna's Law, the bill passed in the assembly in 1998 that denies parole to first-time violent felons, we wanted to let her know how this bill and other prison legislation can discriminate against women. Unlike many male violent offenders, women who kill their abusers because they fear for their lives are unlikely ever to be a danger to society in the future. Most women convicted of drug trafficking under the Rockefeller drug laws who are carrying drugs for boyfriends do not have information on higher-ups to trade for lighter sentences, as do the men. Matusow invited us to present individual case histories to the Women's Legislative Caucus in Albany, a bipartisan, bicameral group of women legislators. Bedford Hills NOW supports this initiative and will work with us on this presentation.

LEGISLATION
County Human Rights Commission
Under the leadership of Andrea Stewart-Cousins, county legislator from Yonkers, the County Legislature heard citizen testimony on the proposed County Human Rights Commission on February 22nd. The County has already allocated $100,000 in the 1999 budget to set up and staff an office. The bill has been made controversial by those who object to prohibiting bias based on sexual orientation in addition to bias based on race, religion, gender, marital status, and national origin. The charge that gays are being singled out for special rights is spurious; what this legislation seeks to do is enable gays to have the same rights as other citizens but which unchecked discrimination may now deny them. My testimony outlined NOW's lawsuit against the State Human Rights Commission for taking up to 12 years to settle claims, and more recently, for closing and denying cases solely to reduce the backlog. NOW won this case in 1998 with the court requiring the State to open unheard cases filed in the past three years.

Hate Crimes Bill
On the state level, we continue to support the hate crimes bill which has languished in the legislature for 10 years due to the opposition by Senator Bruno, due to his objection of inclusion of gays and lesbians.

Charter Schools
Despite his stated support of a broad hate crimes bill, Governor Pataki pushed through a Charter Schools bill in December without public comment or discussion as a quid-pro-quo for pay raises for legislators. What will be the consequences for girls if these newly proposed schools bring back the old tradition of subservience of girls? No mechanisms of general public scrutiny exist for charter schools. Any traditionalist or religious group can institute uniforms or other restrictions for girls that limit their ability to actively participate and present to girls a preview of limited lifetime possibilities envisioned for them by restrictive groups. I urge you to monitor the issue and respond to any inequalities you perceive by contacting this Newsletter, your local newspaper, legislator or the State Board of Regents which, with the State University, is the overseeing authority under this legislation.

Single Sex Schools
New York City is participating in an experiment that failed me when I was a teenager: single sex high schools for girls. I remember an academically strict but otherwise soul damaging experience in both junior and senior high school. Emblazoned on the entry wall of Elizabeth Barrett Browning Junior High School was the quote from Shakespeare, "Her voice was ever soft and gentle, an excellent thing in woman." Despite the opportunities in student government and clubs, we were crushed day by day to be conformists to the 50's expectations of women.

Today the stated purpose of segregated sex high schools is to give girls opportunities for leadership, expression, and academic and personal growth so they will be confident enough to avoid the common path of sacrifice of studies and self to boys. But how will these traits translate to the larger society? What we need to do is much more radical. We need to change all teachers and schools and society itself so that girls and women are recognized and encouraged to achieve everywhere, not only in single sex schools. It may be a tough job, but as Susan B. Anthony said, it is not impossible; it is what the women's movement has been doing for the past 30 years. We will just keep on going.

County Budget Hearings
NOW members Christina Bianco, Jon Wegienek and Sioux Taylor joined with the Women's Agenda to speak at 1999 budget hearings in support of funding for women's and children's issues. Special thanks to Christina Bianco who attended all five hearings. The effort was successful in that funds were allocated or reinstated by the Board of Legislators in all but one case.

Solstice Party
For those who missed the December get-together, think of a cozy home, blazing log fire, good company and lots of good food as a setting for discussing the past year's activities and making plans for the future. The surprise appearance of George Latimer, Chair of the County Board of Legislators added a touch of excitement. We had an opportunity to debate some ongoing feminist issues in an informal atmosphere.