E/CN.4/1995/78/Add.1 page 11 34. Thus, as a number of persons who spoke to the Special Rapporteur said, "racism is still an issue", and they added that it is widely institutionalized. 11/ However, the Special Rapporteur prefers to describe the problem as one of social dysfunction caused by the persistence of racism and racial discrimination. With this concept, the Special Rapporteur would like to convey the idea that sociological, psychological and structural carryovers are at the root of the subtle forms of racism and racial discrimination still found in American society. This stems from the power of myths and prejudice and from their use as instruments of social exclusion: myths and prejudice about the laziness of some people and the ingenuity and industriousness of others; 12/ the criminal propensities or terrorist inclinations of some and the disciplined nature of others; the fact that some cannot be assimilated or refuse to integrate, while others take up the American way of life. This is further illustrated by the tendency to circumvent or break the law in housing, health, justice, the economy, education, and so on. 35. Among the members of the African American community, which bears the brunt of racism and racial discrimination, the emergence of its own middle class and the success of a number of artists and sports figures whom the media shower with praise are, in the opinion of some, no more than alibis and a screen to mask the failure of policies pursued by the federal Government for over 40 years to eliminate racism and racial discrimination. 13/ The fate of the majority of Blacks is one of poverty, sickness, illiteracy, drugs and crime in response to the social cul-de-sac in which they find themselves. Even within the African American middle class, resentment is growing and doubt prevails about the possibility of a much better social status beyond a certain limit and the possibility of integration. This explains the tendency to fall back on their own community and the emergence of radical, "Afrocentric" movements advocating a break with "White society". 36. It should be added that the dismantling of social programmes during the 1980s, under the Republican Administration, helped to produce worse living conditions for persons from ethnic minorities, particularly the African Americans and Latino Americans, and speeded up their marginalization. 37. The conclusions reached by the delegation of the World Council of Churches after the Hearings on Racism as a Violation of Human Rights in the United States (8-19 October 1994) supplement the findings of the Special Rapporteur about the status of members of the African American, Native American, Latino American and Asian communities: "Many witnesses emphasized various patterns of racism against people of color; In housing, they live in appalling conditions and endure insecure and unstable tenure; In employment, they are discriminated against and relegated to the most menial jobs;