Director's Foreword

FY 1998 was another challenging year for the Community Relations Service (CRS). In addition to responding to requests for assistance from communities threatened by racial and ethnic conflicts, we worked to advance the President's One America goal of promoting racial understanding and reconciliation, and assisted the Attorney General's initiatives to combat hate crimes.

Although the historical "black-white" conflicts persist in situations such as church arson, the paradigm of race relations is expanding to include multi-racial and multi-ethnic dimensions. As a result, we are confronted by an overwhelming number of requests for help from vulnerable communities to respond to racial strife, social unrest, and disorder.

When parties in conflict have no goodwill left and resort to civil protest, litigation often seems to be the only means to settling a dispute. For example, in Arkansas, the Little Rock School System was involved in 40 years of desegregation litigation, and emotions and community tensions were becoming more acrimonious with the passage of time. However, this past year, CRS was designated the court-appointed mediator, and we were able to assist in a cost efficient, expeditious community-oriented resolution of the outstanding issues in the educational plan. The value of conciliation is appreciated by all those who understand the benefits of alternative dispute resolution processes.

In addition, as impartial conciliators, CRS can judge its success by the lack of race-related conflicts. Some of our best work in "high profile" cases are known for their peaceful resolution. For example, in Jasper, Texas, following the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr., there was racial polarization and potentially volatile demonstrations by the Ku Klux Klan and Black Panther, counter demonstrators. All parties appreciated CRS' intervention because there was a noticeable absence of acts of retribution - the dramatic ripple effects that usually follow such violent and hateful acts.

Our accomplishments of the past year would not have been possible without continuing to institute tighter management and financial controls. Our 1998 budget was significantly reduced to $5.3 million, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in staff. Recognizing the vital role CRS plays in keeping the peace in communities across the nation, the Attorney General used her authority to reprogram an additional $2 million to fund CRS' conciliation services. Unfortunately, even with this augmentation, CRS' resources were inadequate to meet all the requests for services by Federal and state officials, and local leaders and officials: police chiefs, mayors and school superintendents.