Achieving Equality In America

Equality is one of America’s most sought after core ideals. Yet, as Patterson explains in We the People, it is also “America’s most elusive ideal” (2013, pp. 179). In American society, “legal equality for all Americans has not resulted in de facto equality” (Patterson, 2013 pg. 148). This means that minority groups, such as African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women, do not have the same amount of opportunities and benefits as white males typically have (Patterson, 2013 pg. 148). Through affirmative action programs enacted by Congress, small steps have been made toward achieving the equality America has been lacking for a majority of its history. According to Patterson, affirmative action “...refers to deliberate efforts to provide
According to Olson, firms that did not comply to the mandatory survey had the potential to be struck from the signatory list (2016.) In fact, businesses and organizations have to prove they are not upholding discriminatory practices, or the rationale behind their employment decisions in order to avoid the consequences of not abiding the affirmative action program’s rules (Patterson, 2013 pg. 163). Most affirmative actions programs have some sort of punishment or sanction for those who do not meet the desired results (Patterson, 2013 pg. 163). The survey collected data from firms within the city with “51 to 500 or more lawyers”, and for the first time since the survey’s origination in 2004 collected specific details about the lawyers minority status, such as gender and ethnicity (Olson 2016). However, the survey concluded that “[some] large New York City law firms have made scant progress on including women and minorities in their ranks…” (Olson
According to Olson based on data from the 2015 Diversity Benchmarking Report, “...women make up 19 percent of firms’ partners, a slight increase of the previous year…” (2016). Women are entering more leadership positions in law firms, such as being on management committees, or heads of groups (Olson 2016). However, law firms still lack minorities as partners or on management committees, as “the percentage [of new minorities employed] remained static…” and “...more than a third have no racial or ethnic minorities serving [in leadership positions]” (Olson 2016). Even with an increasingly diverse environment, more than 75 percent of partnerships in law firms are made up of white males (Olson