DISCRIMINATION AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Discrimination and Affirmative Action

Discrimination and Affirmative Action

Introduction

Affirmative action is probably not the most civil rights issue of our time. Opponents believe it is misguided social engineering, which uses quotas and preferences to replace qualified white males with unqualified ethnic minorities and women. In fact, affirmative action is a means of promoting diversity and the protection of the inequality in the workplace, higher education, as well as government contracts. Affirmative action is clearly helping the African, Hispanic (Latino), America and Asia.

What is Affirmative Action?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made discrimination in the workplace, the federal-funded programs, as well as privately owned facilities open to the public. In 1965, Congress enacted the right to vote, which gave the U.S. Department of Justice is authorized to take "positive" measures to eliminate discrimination. Also during this year, President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order 11246, which granted the U.S. Department of Labor of affirmative action enforcement responsibility. Division of the DOL, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, began requiring government contractors, analyzing the demographic composition of the workforce and take proactive steps to address any inequalities. Most recently, affirmative action come under fire in the courts, largely because opponents believe it is a form of reverse discrimination that unfairly punishes white men for "the sins of the past (Ball & Haque 2003)."

Positive Action Against Quotas

Perhaps the most contentious issue of affirmative action is whether it uses "quotas." Affirmative action programs should: a) verify that inequality exists, b) set the goal to eliminate inequality, c) set the dates for achieving the goals, g) dissolve the program after the goals achieved. Opponents say affirmative action that a goal is the same thing as quotas, which means that a specific outcome is mandated rather than welcome. For example, if the employer knows that it is a big gap between the percentages of Hispanics in its workforce, as compared with the general population, it can use affirmative action to target recruitment efforts to the Hispanic population in the hope of increasing the Hispanic new hires. It should define the objectives, how many Hispanics, it wants to hire, at what level, and in what time frame (Wilkins and Ernst 2003).

If affirmative action were only the quota, you would find that: a) a significant percentage of employment and promotion will be in accordance with qualified ethnic minorities, b) end, all affirmative action programs will be implemented, and in a timely manner, c) they will sunsetted..

As part of the supervisory order, which is still in force, federal contractors were required to search for qualified potential colors for use on job vacancies. After an appeal to the U.S. Women's Affairs Chief Esther Peterson and women's groups, President Johnson added gender to the presidential decree in 1967. In addition, in 1967, the Ministry of Health, Education and Welfare (hew) included race-based affirmative action in higher education in its enforcement plan for Title VI of the Act on Civil Rights.

Affirmative action is a means, not an ...