Color

Women in a crowd at a Women’s March. One woman is wearing a Statue of Liberty hat, holding a sign saying, “Stronger Together! Equal Rights for all!!”

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Color

Color-based bias is discrimination based on a person’s skin color; color can be, but is not necessarily, a characteristic of a person’s race. Conflicts involving actual or perceived color are often intertwined with race. CRS supports communities that experience tension and conflict related to actual or perceived color by:

Strengthening police-community relations and assisting law enforcement agencies and community members with resolving color-based conflict
Providing technical assistance, best practices, and training to local, state, and federal government agencies, commissions, and organizations on preventing and responding to allegations of color-based bias
Facilitating dialogues with students, faculty, and staff of schools where color-based conflicts exist and developing mechanisms to prevent tension and violence

Below are some recent examples of CRS's work assisting communities experiencing color-based tension and conflict. Additional case summaries may be found within CRS’s Annual Reports, located on the CRS Resource Center webpage.

Case Highlights

Schools Choose Mediation Instead of Legal Action | Hato Rey, Puerto Rico

In April 2017, CRS services were requested by school officials in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, in response to community tension following allegations of disparate treatment of students based on race and color. These allegations stemmed from reports that school officials, instead of disciplining African American students for school infractions, were referring them to law enforcement where they faced the possibility of criminal charges. In addition, allegations that the schools were unresponsive to racial bullying concerns contributed to tensions among the local community, schools, and local law enforcement. As an example, CRS received reports that an 11-year-old African American student was being held in a juvenile detention facility after shoving two other students in reaction to an alleged bullying incident.

In May 2017, CRS met with school and law enforcement officials in separate meetings to identify ways in which both institutions could work together to address tensions within the community. These meetings also addressed the concerns about how the treatment of students in Puerto Rican schools contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline problem. As a result of the dialogues, law enforcement pledged the services of the internal Social Services Division to work with students and agreed to make an effort to recommend mediation, instead of legal proceedings, for future school cases, when practical.