Racial Justice

PLAN Remains Committed to Racial Justice

 

PLAN is committed to racial, social and economic justice - and political power is a key element of that work.

In a national and statewide atmosphere in which talk-radio celebrities feel free to publicly use racial epithets and attack African-American elected officials for their race, PLAN believes the struggle for racial justice and equity is more important today than ever before. The 9-person Executive Committee of the PLAN Board of Directors includes two members selected by the People of Color Caucus to represent People of Color in the committee’s regular discussions and decision making.

Further, PLAN board members and staff, including the State Director, regularly provide organizations, businesses, churches and other institutions with workshops on opression/liberation and dismantling racism.

In the outreach work that is part of PLAN’s core mission, the organization works to identify key leaders in communities of color, providing training and other opportunities for them to extend and expand their influence on public policy at all levels. PLAN works with African-American, Native American, Hispanic and Asian-American communities throughout the Silver State and is allied with national organizations that embrace a similar commitment to racial justice. Through voter engagement and legislative work, PLAN is working to increase the power of communities of color on the local, state and federal level.

Since early 2009, PLAN has worked with local, national and regional allies to compile a Racial Equity Report Card on the Governor, both houses of the Legislature, and all 63 individual legislators, based on their votes related to racial equity. The report, released in January 2010, highlighted the need for Nevada to develop more rigorous and just policies related to inequities in education, health care, and economic opportunity.

PLAN is working to reframe the debate in Nevada on racial inequities, to build a more reflective and robust public sentiment in Nevada that supports more equitable public policies, and to implement public policies that deal with our state and national racial inequities.

Immigration

Groups regularly meet at PLAN offices in Las Vegas and Reno to develop strategy and tactics for immigration reform that is comprehensive, humane and fair.

PLAN is working with other grass-roots groups to build broad support for federal immigration reform that includes American values of fairness, due process and respect for human dignity.

Dozens of labor groups, organizations representing immigrants and communities of faith are part of the Nevada Immigrant Coalition with PLAN. As Nevada and other states transition to a future in which “minorities” become the new majorities, we are allied with thousands of groups and individuals working for the goal nationally.

One of the key areas is to work with other nonpartisan, nonprofit groups to boost participation among immigrant communities in civic life, including participation in the electoral process by new citizens. Further, PLAN is identifying individuals within these communities and offering them training to serve as social and political leaders. Combined with a communications strategy that includes meetings with key policy makers, influential community leaders and important media, PLAN hopes to build support for comprehensive immigration reform that both quiets the anti-immigrant nativists and provides a sound legal framework for immigrants to continue contributing to Nevada’s economic development.