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Affirmative action and its role in modern world
Affirmative action policy and its effects on education
Arguments for and against affirmative action
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I. INTRODUCTION
In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was enacted to do away with much of the conspicuous discrimination that was going on in the American workplace. Despite this, discrimination in the workplace continues albeit in a more covert manner, making it very hard to diagnose and prescribe a solution. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was enacted to remove any form of discrimination against any persons because of their race, religion, sex, or national origin. In 1967, it was made illegal for employers to discriminate because of age and in 1990, Congress said employers could not discriminate because of ones disability. African Americans have suffered from workplace discrimination far more than any other demographic in the workforce; this can be attributed
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In 1961, affirmative action was introduced in the United States as a way to curb the discrimination African-Americans were facing in the workplace. President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, it stated, “affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." The subsequent administration of Lyndon B. Johnson signed Executive Order 11246 which required and organization with revenue of $50,000 or more from one federal contract within 12 months and with over 50 employees is required to have an affirmative action written plan. Their plan needed to include set goals and a timetable of achieving a staff with the required amount of women and people from different minority groups. The “required amount” is determined by the amount of people in the current labor force against the amount of women and minorities available in the labor …show more content…
The question that critics ask is whether the gains made in the labor market by women and minorities because of affirmative action would continue if it were no longer a requirement for employers (Coate & Loury). No one will question that affirmative action has helped to advance the place of women and minorities but has it helped to erode the negative stereotypes that are associated with these groups of people? In order for the progress women and minorities have made to be permanent, these kind of preferential programs need to address the negative stereotypes or at the very least, halt any reinforcement of stereotypes. According to R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., affirmative action at the time of its conception was based on five assumptions. Although I did not see eye to eye on most of his assumptions, there was one worth
Deitch, E. A., Barsky, A., Butz, R., Chan, S., Brief, A. P., & Bradley, J. C. (2003). Suble yet significant: The existence and impact of everyday racial discrimination in the workplace. Human Relations, 56(11), 1299-1324.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed soon after the milestone March on Washington. In the largest march ever held in the United States, people of all races and colors gathered together to show legislature that racism would no longer be acceptable in society. Title VII, the section which deals with discrimination in the workforce is one small part of the larger piece of legislation. Title VII, of the Civil Rights Act, quickly became the most important arbiter of rights under the new law (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2001). The workforce has drastically changed since the passage of the act. Women and minorities are engaged in employment now more than ever. With the passage of Title VII, the door was opened to prohibiting job discrimination and creating fairness in employment (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2001). Soon after, protection against discrimination based on age and disability was provided.
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
Sacks, David, and Peter Thiel. "The Case Against Affirmative Action." Stanford Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2014.
Affirmative action was instituted to redress the social inequities of past discrimination in employment against what became known as a 'protected class' (women and minorities). The goals of affirmative action plans are to increase the representation of historically disadvantaged people in the workplace equal to their representation in the corresponding community and relevant labor market. This formula is how affirmati...
Payne, Angela R., and Bharat S. Thakkar. "The Hypocrisy Of Affirmative Action: Race And The Labor Market." International Journal Of Innovations In Business 1.4 (2012): 274-292. Business Source Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Affirmative action is important especially in the work force. Before affirmative action, minorities and women felt, and seemed to be, discriminated against being chosen for the job. Affirmative action was to help with the "increasing of opportunities for those that were previously discriminated against"(Lemann, 145). Affirmative action was created to not only help Black-Amer...
Waring, Marilyn. (1988). If Women Counted: A New Feminist Economics. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
With the rise of the modern age economic survival has become difficult for families based on a single income. This economic need along with modern attitudes toward gender equality has resulted in women being represented in the workforce in greater numbers. However, until the 1960’s women faced severe discrimination when trying to enter and maintain a position in the workforce. Often qualified women would be passed over for men with less experience and education. Employers were fearful that women were too emotional and were not equipped to handle the stress of the work environment. Also driving the decision to not hire or promote women was the concern over the additional health care expenses and leave time pregnant employees would require. The road to equal treatment of women in the workforce would begin with the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically the portion entitled Title VII. While Title VII offered women some projection against discrimination in the workforce the ambiguity of the law would prevent protection on one key area: pregnancy. The legislation that would remove the final discriminatory roadblock to woman in the workforce would come from the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. This momentous act would extend the coverage of Title VII and prevent discrimination of women in employment due to a pregnancy and pregnancy related complications. While the law may have stemmed from a controversial decision by the Supreme Court
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbid businesses connected with interstate commerce to discriminate when choosing its employees. If these businesses did not conform to the act, they would lose funds that were granted to them from the government. Another act that was passed to secure the equality of blacks was the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act, which was readopted and modified in 1970, 1975, and 1982, contained a plan to eliminate devices for voting discrimination and gave the Department of Justice more power in enforcing equal rights. In another attempt for equal rights, the Equal Employment ...
African Americans faced racial discrimination in all aspects of their life. In African American history, many African American men and women fought to end racial discrimination by forming organizations and movements. African American women faced discrimination from White Americans and from African American men. African American feminism sought to challenge how women were treated in American society. Anna Cooper is a well-educated African American woman who helped laid down the foundation for future women’s rights activists.
Nacoste, Rupert W. (1987) Affirmative Action in American Politics: Strength or Weakness? Political Behavior, Vol. 9, No. 4, 291-304.
Some of the many anti-discriminative programs and governmental agencies have attempted to regulate policies related to discriminatory practices in a business organizational structure by incorporating stricter consequences for prejudicial acts and monitoring equivalent opportunities in efforts to reduce organizational biases and acts of discrimination for any protected class or underrepresented population in the structure of these organizations. As one example, The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which was created under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and charged with the function to enforce federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. In addition, in1961, another action created through The Civil Rights Act of 1964 worth noting is Affirmative Action. More specifically, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order to mandate government
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also stated the laws to protect discrimination based on colour, age, gender, national origin and religion in the workplace. These laws are
...d women’s biological purpose has provided men a source of comparative advantage in work. It is, therefore, natural for most companies to think that women cannot be as capable as men in terms of assuming strenuous or challenging positions because women, by default, become less participative and more vulnerable when they start to have family and children. Apparently, this situation has led to various gender discriminations in the labor market.