...non-internet resources on why do we as a society still need Affirmative Action and why isn't Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) sufficient to prevent workplace discrimination? The articles will take a look at affirmative action in admissions to public colleges, and the workforce, as well as why even with federal, state, and local anti-discrimination laws that protect people against sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of age, disability, race, sex, marital status, pregnancy, breastfeeding, family responsibilities, sexual preference, medical record, criminal record, trade union activity, political opinion, social origin, religion, and nationality or ethnic origin, workplace discrimination still occurs in today's society. This paper will also look into potential pros and cons of diversity management. Keywords: equal employment opportunity, affirmative action, discrimination, diversity In order to see why we still need Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity in our society today, I believe we need to look back at why we needed them in the first place. The term "affirmative action" was first introduced by President Kennedy in 1961 as a means to addressing discrimination that had persisted despite civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees (Brunner & Rowen, 2007). It was designed to be a temporary remedy to level the playing field for blacks and other minorities on education and jobs. The thought was affirmative action would end once a level playing field...
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...Affirmative Action: Bigger than Diversity Is affirmative action bigger than diversity? This is the question that comes to my mind since there has been much debate on whether or not Affirmative action laws are still needed. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in October on Fisher v. University of Texas, a case that could overturn or uphold the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling that found affirmative-action policies to be constitutional. (Nhan, 2012) Of course it’s still needed and it’s constitutional since it reinforces the Constitution that is based on all men being created equal. And without this reinforce able law I don’t believe that the Constitution will hold true. And if Affirmative action was not still needed then why is there so much debate about it. Affirmative action has gone way beyond diversity, it’s all about power. This leads me to my first point when affirmative action was put in place white America lost their control and now they are trying to do whatever it takes to get that control back. One of the biggest blows to this countries ego was when the first black president was put into office, this really struck nerve. Finally, getting rid of affirmative action is just another way to shake up the confidence of minorities and women so that they break them down to where society feels they should be. This is just a fraction of why I feel affirmative action is still needed and society is just playing the part until someone makes the under minding decision...
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...Affirmative Action In America University of Phoenix, Axia College Affirmative Action In America Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This statement will always ring true especially on the subject of equal opportunity employment and Affirmative Action. While Affirmative Action seemed to be a hot topic in the past, it is still one that should continue to be addressed. Affirmative Action is needed in the American workplace to improve morale and create equity among all Americans. The history of Affirmative Action (AA) is a long one. The first federal law passed was The Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law started the term, “Equal Opportunity Employment” and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The first legislation to pass was Executive Order number 11246 on September 24, 1965 (Aberson & Haag, 2003). This essentially stated that employers needed to take affirmative action to ensure no one was discriminated against for their race, religion, color, or country of origin. In more recent years, employers have added sexual orientation, abilities, and ethnicity to their list of nondiscrimination. Unfortunately, during these times white men were not always accepting of women and minorities in the workplace. Women who joined the workplace in the 1960s and 1970s were expected to do chores for the men in the workplace. They would also be sexually harassed and abused by their male coworkers...
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...Affirmative Action Affirmative action is a government policy that gives opportunities to minorities, women, and any group who has been the victim of discrimination in the past. Affirmative action is the outcome of the 1960’s Civil Rights movement, growing out of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or gender. It was the 1978 Supreme Court decision, The Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which allowed for the use of race-based preferences as a means of fostering diversity, allowing affirmative action to be used in admissions policies. It was created with the intention to provide equal opportunities for members of minority groups in education and employment. Initially affirmative action focused on improving opportunities for African Americans. Colleges and universities used Affirmative action in their admission process, with the hopes of increasing their enrollment of African Americans and later Hispanic students, two minorities that were falling behind in college acceptance rates. According to data from the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES), in 2007, 70 percent of white high school graduates immediately enrolled in college, compared to 56 percent of African American graduates and 61 percent of Hispanic graduates. As more and more educational institutions began using affirmative action policies in their admissions process, it became a target of great debate. With Americans taking sides as affirmative...
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...“Affirmative action is an effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women” (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). It was the way of bringing to an end the discrimination that occurred by individuals of a certain group and allows them to purse educational and employment opportunities. There is a question of rather affirmative action is still necessary or rather it has run its course. The answer to that question can be found by taking a look into the history of affirmative action while showing the pro and cons of it. Affirmative action is still necessary in American in order to ensure fair representation and opportunities to American’s diverse minority individuals within universities and workplace. The original intention of affirmative action was to form equivalent chances for individuals who had been treated with discrimination in an earlier period. “Elements of an affirmative action plan include a written policy self evaluation to identify efficiencies, steps to correct them on a time table and accountability by senior management.” (Britannica) Affirmative action is frequently established in administration, instructive, and employment situation with the intention of making certain that minorities are incorporated in each opportunity available. The core reason behind affirmative action is to give assistance in reimbursing for the earlier periods of discrimination and concentrate on current discrimination. In earlier periods...
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...The NAACP is an interest group that focuses on ensuring a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race (NAACP.org). The NAACP examines government policies and public agenda that may cause hindrance to the advancement of African Americans. In 1896, in a case between Plessy vs. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities; this decision was detrimental to our society (http://wwwi.pbs.org/wnet/imcrow/storie_events_plessy.html). In 1954 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education, which lead to a decision that, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” (http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html). The monumental impact of this case is still widely demonstrated today. The government policy of affirmative action is undoubtedly a useful tool in the efforts of the NAACP. In 1971 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Griggs vs. Duke Power Company; a decision was made that reflected the policy of fair treatment by affirmative action (lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/03/08/remembering-griigs-v.-duke-power-company/). Today there are some who support the policy of affirmative action, and some who are opposed, and some who feel we needed affirmative action at one time but now are no longer in need of it. In 2009 the plaintiffs of the case of Ricci vs. DeStefano sued the city...
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...Affirmative Action Since its inception Affirmative Action was intended to level the playing field of opportunity in American institutions. Affirmative Action’s objective was not to extend unearned benefits to minority groups at the majority’s expense, as has been alleged by politicians and pundits. I argue that Affirmative Action has and will continue to provide an equalizing effect for minorities and women, who are disadvantaged in every foundational aspect of society. I will further evaluate the examples put forth by Luke Harris and Uma Narayan in support of Affirmative Action. I will also analyze the counter-arguments provided by Louis Pojman, claiming that Affirmative Action is reverse discrimination against the white male majority and...
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...Jermaine R. McCrossin Intro to Criminal Justice Professor Odem Final Should Affirmative Action be used to eliminate injustice? I believe that Affirmative Action can be used to eliminate injustices; it all depends on how it’s used. First to speak about Affirmative Action I’d like to explain what it is, how it came about, what it’s like in other parts of the world, and how “Affirmative Action” is viewed today in society. Lastly, I’d like to explain my point of view and how I came to it. Affirmative Action refers to policies that take factors including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group in areas of employment, education, and business usually justified as countering the effects of a history of discrimination. Affirmative action is intended to promote equal opportunity. It is often instituted in government and educational settings to ensure that minority groups within a society are included in all programs. The justification for affirmative action is that it helps to compensate for past discrimination, persecution or exploitation by the ruling class of a culture, and to address existing discrimination. The term "affirmative action" was first used in the United States. It first appeared in Executive Order 10925, which was signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961, and it required government contractors to "not discriminate against any employee or applicant for...
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...Evaluate the claim that affirmative action is good for America Affirmative action is a social justice policy that seeks to undo past injustices against minorities by providing special incentives to institutions to hiring them, accepting them into schools among other economic arenas. Some legislation, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that outlawed all sorts of discrimination against anyone based on race, gender, and religion, and included desegregation of public schools. The term "affirmative action" was first used in the United States in "Executive Order” signed by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, which included a provision that government contractors "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, colour, or national origin.” In the United States, affirmative action has been the subject of numerous court cases. In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), the Supreme Court permitted educational institutions to consider race as a factor when admitting students. In other countries, such as the United Kingdom, affirmative action is rendered illegal because it does not treat all races equally. This approach to equal treatment is described as being "colour blind." In 1995 after the case of Adarand Constructors v.Pena, Justice Thomas stated that “the constitution, federal and state laws should all be coloured blind”. Meaning these areas should treat every individual equally, removing the previous...
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...Transportation agency has a history of only promoting male employees. The culture within this organization must be changed! In looking at the EEO Considerations table A, the percentage of female employees are alarming. Taking a deeper look at the data reveals that there are more women in positions of office or clerical roles than in Professional and/or technical roles, which would indicate to me that there is an appalling stereotype in action here where people in positions of power (ie Males in this case) believe that women are better suited for non-professional roles, thereby pigeonholing an entire sex of individuals. During the interview process, it was noted that during the second round of interviews there was not one female on the second panel, whereas on the first panel there was at least one. This is concerning, since the final offer for the position would likely come from the second round/second panel of interviewers. Also, Joyce was the first woman to hold the position of RMV; she was a trailblazer and a leader. When she initially applied for the Road Dispatcher position she did not meet the full requirements, in terms of her education. So, she made a move to the RMW I role and then took college courses in order to become qualified for the Road Dispatcher position which would prove to me how motivated she is and how badly she wants to position. Finally, one of the panelists seemed to not like Joyce’s personality,...
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...Affirmative Action Policy Proposal Marla Ghent Human Resources Management RENEE SHIRAISHI It is highly recommended that Genie Wireless should put into action and maintain an affirmative action policy which would guarantee equal opportunities for every one of their employees. A policy of this nature should be implemented to assure precise and detailed principles and values in order to put a stop to and prevent any type of wrongful treatment to any staff member who is founded on ethnic group, skin color, gender, religious practice, country of origin or disability. This document is additionally required to act in agreement with all equal opportunity policies. The main objective for this policy is the constitutional right of every individual to have fair entry to all forms of self-improvement and development without discrimination. Discrimination is morally and ethically wrong, and is also against the law. The unfavorable treatment towards an individual formed based on the position they hold in society or cultural grouping violates the standards in which this country was founded on. Affirmative action policies, when correctly implemented, aim to improve additional biased proceedings. A full examination of the framework of Genie Wireless, will present its board of directors with a foundation upon which to follow to outline a policy which will in time, guarantee diversity in presently employed workers, and those to come. The personnel will be satisfactorily trained...
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...------------------------------------------------- Research: Affirmative Action. Do you feel that affirmative action has a place in today's society? Do you support or oppose its role in today's politics and our lives? Why? Affirmative action is a term most Americans are familiar with, but a term that is not always well understood. To clarify, as defined in Politics in America by Thomas Dye, affirmative action is any government or private program designed to help offset the effects of “past unequal treatment of minorities and/or women by giving members of these groups preferential treatment in admissions, hiring, promotions, or other aspects of life” (Dye, 2009, p. 551). Over time, affirmative action has resulted in an array of policies or programs specifically designed with the intention to enhance employment and business opportunities, or educational programs for groups, such as ethnic or racial minorities, as well as women, who all, as a group, have suffered discrimination. However, the approach in which these policies or programs are employed, the forms of action they entail, and the far-reaching repercussions they convey for our society may deviate from one specific program to another. Since its founding, the belief in human equality has guided the American republic. Of the truths held to be self-evident in the Declaration of Independence, the very first and foremost is that “all men are created equal.” This certainty is deep-seated as we recognize intuitively the equality...
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...brings a variety of knowledge through the exposure of students to different perspectives, makes students prepared for working environments, and improves the country’s development. II. The Problems with the Lack of Diversity on Higher Education in the United States a. Comparison between the National Population Number of Minorities and the Number of People that Access Higher Education- Is it representative? b. Problems When the Minorities and Marginalized Groups are Misrepresented in Higher Education III. Higher education and Society a. Responsibility of Universities to Influence and Make Changes in the Society b. Affirmative Actions in the U.S Universities i. Historic ii. Controversial Points- a Defense of Affirmative Action as a tool to guarantee Diversity iii. Issues IV. Diversity a. What is Diversity? i. Defining Diversity in this Research Paper ii. Nomenclature b. Benefits to Society i. Collective and Individual Benefits ii. Numerical Representation and Informal Interactional Diversity iii. Interaction and Educational Benefits V. Preparing to Work a. Corporations, Global Trade Market and their necessities i. Amicus brief General Motors VI. Improving the Country’s Development a. Social Benefits i. Democracy ii. Employment and Earning Rates b. Economic Benefits i. Qualified Workforce ii. Skills for Competitive and Diverse Business’ Environments VII. Conclusion According...
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...In 1961, John F. Kennedy first coined the term “affirmative action” to assure that disadvantaged groups received equal employment and educational opportunities as well as were treated without discrimination (“Affirmative Action: Overview”). Since the 60s, affirmative action programs have been implemented by employers and colleges across the United States with the interest of promoting diversity among the workforce. However, as society has progressed, these policies have become outdated. Affirmative action should be eliminated in America because it stigmatizes minorities and women, facilitates reverse discrimination, and lowers academic standards for disadvantaged groups. Affirmative action policies arose from the Civil Rights Movement in the...
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...minorities and women. The policies differ in approach and opinion. The lesser of the policies is passive nondiscrimination. It is when a company or educational institution takes into account only the applicant’s ability, and doesn’t take race or sex into consideration. This policy is also called equal opportunity, and is not controversial. It only requires employers to not unjustly discriminate. (Lane, 2010) Moving past the passive approach is affirmative action. This is defined as an activity that is aimed at securing a more equal workplace. It goes beyond passive nondiscrimination, but doesn’t alter the standards or qualifications for applicants. (Claire Andre, 2005) One way a company can engage in affirmative action is to increase the applicant pool for open positions with the intent to diversify. Though this policy is more active than the passive nondiscrimination, the theory is that the most qualified candidate will get the position, so moral and ethical controversy is limited. A method beyond affirmative action, and the one I want to discuss in this paper, is preferential treatment, or hiring. This type of policy changes the job standards in an effort to hire more minorities or women. There are two ways this is done: preferential hiring among equally competent applicants; and preferential hiring among applicants who are not equally competent. These policies are called reverse discrimination by critics, and leveling the playing field by supporters. (Lane,...
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