EMAC History

Honoring Our Legacy of Inclusion

The merger of the National Education Association and the American Teachers Association paved the way to make the NEA the inclusive organization that it is today.

Celebrating EMAC's History

On the 35th anniversary of the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, reflected on the EMAC's history of PAST, PRESENT, and FUTURE leadership.

In 1970, the National Education Association adopted new governing documents and Bylaw 3-1(g) to ensure ethnic minority representation in NEA governing bodies and the NEA Representative Assembly is guaranteed.

NEA Bylaw 3-1(g) and Leadership Diversity

3-1(g) lies at the heart of NEA’s efforts to encourage racial and ethnic diversity in leadership throughout all levels of the Association—local, state, and national.

3-1(g) has been part of NEA’s Bylaws since the 1970s and requires each state affiliate to implement action plans for meaningful ethnic-minority involvement in organizational leadership.

3-1(g) is not a mandate to fill ethnic-minority quotas, or a guarantee for the election of ethnic-minority members.

3-1(g) is an Association issue, not an ethnic-minority issue—and relies on all members in order to achieve its greatest success. Discover what your local or state association is doing to ensure that 3-1(g) plays a living and growing part of NEA’s continued diversity efforts.

when it comes to human and civil rights—amplified through its mission, goals, and core values; and demonstrated throughout its organizational history and development.

3-1(g) begins at the NEA Representative Assembly by engaging each state association to elect a state and local delegation that reflects the racial and ethnic diversity among all of the students, school employees, and communities it serves.

3-1(g) has ensured that the NEA Representative Assembly today continues to be highly diverse—30% of RA delegates at the 2012 RA in Washington, DC self-identified as racial and ethnic minorities, compared with approximately 36% in the general U.S. population (2010 Census).

3-1(g) policy does not require a state association to meet its numerical goal each year at the RA, but rather that a state association submit its plan for achieving its numerical goal, that the plan is approved by the NEA Executive Committee, and that the state association comply with its plan components.

3-1(g) sets forth an always changing and evolving challenge—and successfully diverse state associations are quick to recognize that a variety of actions and approaches must take place to achieve and maintain success. Some of these actions may include:

Informing members about the Association’s ethnic-minority involvement policies through presentations, brochures, and other media; o establishing ethnic-minority affairs or human and civil rights committees to coordinate plan actions and activities between state and local affiliates;
Identifying and encouraging ethnic-minority candidates to run for delegate and other governance positions, and;
Submitting names of ethnic-minority members as candidates for appointment to state and national committees.