Preview

History of Racial discrimination in the Workplace.

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1725 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
History of Racial discrimination in the Workplace.
Racial discrimination has long been a problem in social history. The discrimination of ethnic minorities has been a controversial issue, existent in society, and workplaces for many years. The implementation of ethnic monitoring and positive discrimination in employment has increased the number of ethnic employees and gone a long way to mend the bridge of inequality which has burdened society for a long time.

Another method introduced to try and counter the racial inequality in employment is that of Affirmative Action. Affirmative action calls for minorities and women to be given special consideration in employment, education and contracting decisions, to increase their number in the workplace.

Affirmative action is a controversial issue which has been debated by many. In this essay I am going to look at the advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action and what affect it has on society. I will also debate whether I think affirmative action is a fair method to implement in organisations, and also whether it can be considered to be fair from a philosophical perspective.

Affirmative action was defined as an attempt to enlarge opportunity for everyone, it was designed to redress the imbalances caused by long-standing discrimination. Defenders of affirmative action argue that granting modest advantages to minorities and women is more than fair, given hundreds of years of discrimination that benefited whites and men. This implies that as blacks have previously suffered from detrimental racist discrimination and wrongdoings, including slavery and not having the right to vote, they now deserve extra benefits to compensate. This is known as "reverse racism". It argues that as whites once set themselves apart from blacks and claimed privileges for themselves while denying them to others, now, on the basis of race, blacks are able to claim special status and reserving for themselves privileges they deny to others.

The question then arises: Do two wrongs make a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Affirmative action is the policy in which schools give priority to students who tend to suffer from discrimination. The policy was intended to give minorities equal rights in the admission process, however nowadays, it gives an unfair preference to one group of students, as opposed to being equal. This leads into the discussion of racial discrimination. Opponents of the law say that affirmative action gives minorities an unfair advantage over non-minorities. On the other side, proponents of the law say affirmative action is the way to reverse the negative effects caused by years of racism and discrimination before 1961. I believe that affirmative action is a good sentiment to the minority community, however, I think it’s the incorrect approach to fix the problem. You can’t solve the problem of discrimination by creating more discrimination.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The continuation of the application of affirmative action in the labor market. “Affirmative action is one of the most controversial government interventions in the labor market since the abolition of slavery.”(Jonathan Leonard) Affirmative action pertaining to the labor market takes a very different stance. Under Executive Order 11246 (part of the Civil Rights Act), “ you are not to discriminate against any employee because of race, color, religion and sex, as well as take affirmative action to ensure that there is a diversity of employees”. The contradiction of this statement is astonishing, and to have that nailed in the coffin known as our Constitution, is the ultimate blow on the use of this policy in the workplace. The fact that we must not consider race, but consider it in terms of diversity is overall a confusing concept and forced employers to establish ‘quotas’ to meet racial goals. This is very beneficial for white collar or craft jobs, where employers are hesitant to hire minorities or women because they do not believe they can handle the burden of the job. This maybe one of the only circumstances where federal pressure is advantageous, and statistics show that establishments are growing to give more job openings specially for african americans, hispanics and other minorities, decreasing its 89% white-hiring percentage. The effects of these kinds of policies are significant on a 99% confidence level or better, and have resulted in better representation in establishments(especially minority females) and also benefit companies in their own employment growth. However, these job openings are mainly in unskilled positions reducing the production of specially-skilled members of society, and basically producing only white specialties. Studied by Ashenfelter and Heckman(1976), taking african americans as an…

    • 2122 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The purpose of this paper is to review the subject of affirmative action, and the policies that go along with it. The paper will be recommending to a board of directors that their business implement affirmative action policies. This argument will be supported by points and facts that are in favor of the implementation. It will also fairly discuss points against the implementation of affirmative action. The paper will cover points about how affirmative action policies relate to compliance…

    • 1549 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Van, W. B. (January 01, 2010). The affirmative action debate: a critical reflection. South African Journal of Higher Education, 24, 2, 358-366.…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    One concept that continues to be a hot-button issue throughout America's history, as well as in present-day is affirmative action. Affirmative action, at its root base, is defined as the favoring of a group of people based on previous discrimination and disenfranchisement throughout history. Specifically, affirmative action plays an integral role in the admission of disadvantaged minorities into a vast number of schools, organizations, and occupations. Moreover, a new conflict has arisen regarding affirmative action: whether or not the criteria should shift from race, gender, and ethnicity, to class and poverty. From a non-minority's perspective on the controversial issue of affirmative action, one could make the argument that affirmative…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In this essay I will expose what I see as the shortcomings of the current…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Contemplating how the different genders and racial groups are still not paid equally it doesn’t seem as though affirmative action is effective. Now, women still gain about 77 cents while Latinos earn 56 cents for every dollar white men make. Likewise, African American men obtain 75 percent of what white men make. Even Though the whites are the majority, they had a lower poverty rate than the minority blacks in 2002 and higher household income. Devah Pager of Princeton University conducted administered series of experiments in Milwaukee and New York City, 2008, where he had a group of white and African Americans poses as job applicants to inspect employment discrimination.The participants had the same qualifications in their resumes. The results of these studies were the following, white applicants with or without criminal records were most likely to get call backs than African Americans with the clean record. These studies proved that racial discrimination still exists in employment even with the existence of affirmative action…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative action is an instituted list of policies to make up for past discrimination against groups based on race, religion, national origin, and gender. From its beginning, affirmative action has given minority groups opportunities for employment, promotion at work, new business ownership, school admission, scholarships and financial aid. President Lyndon B. Johnson introduced affirmative action during the civil rights era in 1965. It was used "as a method of redressing discrimination that had persisted in spite of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees." (Brunner) The purpose of affirmative action was to end racial inequality and set a level playing field for all races. Affirmative action allowed minorities a fair chance to pursue education and career advancement. It originally was intended for temporary assistance and was supposed to crush existing racially biased ideas in society. What was once a noble and valiant idea in 1965…

    • 1618 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Introduction During the 1960’s, there was a significant disparity between the amount of minority and female representation in the workforce versus the amount in the American population. In an attempt to correct this disparity, President John F. Kennedy enacts Executive Order 10925 which causes for an aggressive hiring of minorities by the federal government (Chrisman, 2013). Consequently, over-time, the civil rights movement as well as current laws and Supreme Court decisions greatly expand the idea of affirmative action well beyond the idea of what President Kennedy had envisioned it to be. For the minorities of America, affirmative action came to be known as a struggle against racism and racist practices (Chrisman, 2013).…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    essays

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The benefits of affirmative action will yield side effects counter to America's battle with discrimination. In an article by Millery Polyne, two main reasons for eliminating affirmative action are discussed.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Diversity

    • 1638 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm operates on the assumption that “we are all the same” or “we aspire to being all the same” (Thomas & Ely, 1996, p. 81). Companies that use this paradigm focus on the numbers, or how well they achieve a minority “recruitment” level. They may even have programs to mentor and help minorities further advance their careers and train other employees…

    • 1638 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Affirmative action is a controversial topic topic, especially in American society. Affirmative action is an active effort to improve the employment or education opportunities of members of minority groups and women. It also means a similar effort to promote the rights of other disadvantaged persons. In America, affirmative action is for a disadvantaged group to have equal opportunities, regardless of: race, religion/creed, sex, national origin, and disability (OFCCP). Many surround the words affirmative action around race, but socioeconomic status, gender, and various other background characteristics play a role. These factors and more especially in the realm of education. Affirmative action is beneficial due to its history and who it affects.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    People of color are encouraged to go college and become educated. However, after they applied for positions or promotions they are passed over, noticeably or subtilty treated differently on the job or terminated because of the color of their skin.…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Social issues have plagued the women and minorities of our country for decades upon decades, degrading them as if emotions and morals were not evident amongst them. The article entitled "Affirmative Action" states that as representation of minorities and women became more and more necessary, a movement called "affirmative action" became an important issue. Affirmative action is not limited to the uplifting of certain genders and races, but it focuses on establishing standards of certain ethical codes. Affirmative action concentrates on a broad array of issues including equal opportunity, systematic exclusion, and diversity.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Taking a closer look also stirs up a question of nobility that needs to be…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays