Minority groups say civil rights getting worse at the FCC

A coalition of minority advocacy groups, including the NAACP and Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, wrote to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and lawmakers complaining about a lack of progress on civil rights issues.

The letter highlights two "unpleasant surprises" in the FCC's budget proposal: reduced funding for the Adarand studies that are used to justify affirmative action programs and cuts to the budgets of the Offices of Workplace Diversity and Communications Business Opportunities. "The only two FCC offices with substantive responsibilities whose funding was cut in the 2011 Budget were the two offices focusing on minority issues," the letter states, adding that the Workplace Diversity Office should be focused on why there are "almost no minority" senior officials in many of the Commission's Bureaus, including the Media Bureau. The groups argue that despite the fact minority radio, TV and cable channel ownership is "spiraling towards zero" the FCC has still yet to approve any minority ownership proposals and has only reviewed one of 72 before the agency. They also complain about the paucity of stimulus broadband grants for minority business owners and request a meeting with the FCC and lawmakers including Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Ed Towns (D-NY).