This packet is a compilation of information intended to prompt discussion
about money in politics and campaign finance reform as civil rights issues.
The starting point for this project was the preparation of a national report
by Public Campaign called The Color of Money: Campaign Contributions and Race.
This packet includes excerpts from this national report and specific Oregon
1996 federal election contributor data that was generated during preparation
of the national publication.
Oregon Action does money in politics research and includes in this document
additional information related to state legislative contributions that makes
linkages between policy decisions that particularly affect people of color
and low-income workers. In addition, Oregon Action is working with
partner organizations to do outreach around the state on these issues.
Key points from each of the sections of this publication are summarized
below:
Section 2 is a collection of important quotes and figures linking money
and politics and the need for campaign finance reform to voting and civil
rights. Two samples are:
Money has discounted our vote and corrupted public service.
It's made a mockery of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We must fight
that. We can't let private money trample on the graves of those who died
to make the vote the great equalizer. Citizens have yet to own the government.
The standard should be "one person, one vote" not
"you must pay to play."
-Dr. Gwendolyn Patton, veteran African-American
voting rights activist
from Alabama.
"The Chicago Urban League conducted a study of the 1991 campaigns
for the Chicago City Council, analyzing the amounts candidates raised and
the factors affecting their fundraising success or lack thereof. The
study found that whites raised approximately five times as much for city
council races as did African-Americans and approximately one and a half
times more than Latinos."
Section 3 describes Oregon Action's partners in providing data for this report
and the outreach partners for educating and working with people to use this
data. A key element of this section is a description of outreach tools
such as a skit using information from the report.
