A/HRC/15/18 to assist, and therefore unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has said, however, that race can be taken into account as a factor to increase diversity, for example in a school. 25. In their meetings with NGOs, the members were informed that unemployment is a very serious issue for the Afro-descendant community, with levels of unemployment being, proportionately, four times higher among this population than in the white community. Reference was made to a case where the New York City Fire Department was found to have discriminated against people of African descent who had applied for employment as firemen. Of the 11,000 firemen employed by the New York City Fire Department, only about 300 were of African descent, despite their being about 27 per cent of the population of New York. This case of discrimination was run successfully by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Office. It was pointed out by NGOs that a lack of affirmative measures is a serious obstacle to improving the present situation. 26. The members were also informed about the particularly onerous employment situation that many women of African descent endure, working two or three jobs in order to support their families as single mothers. This has adverse effects upon their children, who do not have a parent present for most of the day. Taking into account the educational level of women of African descent, the prevailing differences in salaries between men and women, the cost of childcare services and transportation problems, employment is becoming unrewarding for many African American women. In this context, it may sometimes be more attractive to receive social welfare than to work. 27. Statistical information received concerning the challenges facing people of African descent in the area of employment is included below (paras. 63-70). 2. Access to education 28. In its meeting with the Department of Education, the members learned that the Department’s Office of Postsecondary Education funds a number of programmes to promote access and educational opportunity for racial and ethnic minorities. The Department also funds many programmes that often benefit racial or ethnic minorities, although they do not focus explicitly on such minorities, due to their focus on low-income or disadvantaged persons. 29. The federal Government does not have a large role in the implementation of educational programmes at the state level and there is a lack of general and unified policy. Federal programmes are offered to states but they cannot be imposed. In many cases intervention by the federal level is possible only when there are problems. Although the federal Government promotes and supports long-term programmes, there are very few specifically targeted towards people of African descent. The majority of programmes are designed to address wider problems of disadvantage in education of racial minorities in general. The members learned of various initiatives designed to improve access to quality education by racial minorities such as people of African descent. Magnet schools, which are public schools with specialized curricula that draw students from across the normal zoning boundaries established by education authorities, are one way by which the Government addresses the issue of racial segregation in education. Financial assistance may be applied for by those magnet schools that intend to implement certain projects, such as a project for the reduction, elimination or prevention of minority group isolation. However, the members were informed that a majority of white parents are not great supporters of the inclusion programmes run by the Government. 30. In meetings with NGOs, the members were told that lack of access to quality education is a major problem for people of African descent in the United States. They emphasized that more than 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, many students of colour continue to struggle in inadequate schools. They referred to problems connected 9