The Nation - News from Sept. 20, 1985

The head of the Civil Rights Commission accused a House subcommittee chairman of racism for questioning on why more women and minorities were not appointed to the commission’s new state advisory panels. “I heard a lot of racism in there today,” Clarence M. Pendleton Jr., told reporters after he appeared before the Judiciary subcommittee on civil and constitutional rights. Rep. Don Edwards (D-San Jose), the subcommittee chairman, who is white, repeatedly questioned Pendleton, who is black, about what he called “a noticeable decrease in the number of minorities and women” on the newly appointed State Advisory Committees.