Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action

Introduction

Affirmative action has been the subject of increasing debate and tension in our society. Affirmative action has divided political parties, communities and campuses across the nation. The basis behind affirmative action is that because of past discrimination and oppression, such as the unequal treatment of women, and the enslavement of African Americans, minorities and women have difficulty competing with their white male counterparts.

History of Affirmative Action

The policy of Affirmative Action was present 40 years ago in 1965 by President Johnson. Despite civil rights laws and rights guaranteed by the constitution, Affirmative Action was presented to address the persistent discrimination that was taking place.

In a famous speech at Howard University in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered which became a national justification for moving the country beyond nondiscrimination to a more vigorous effort to improve the status of black Americans. The "skills" that merit-based admission rewards are cultivated in children by parents with money. Affirmative action was to be a method by which minorities could eventually develop those skills in their own children.

Basically, under its tenats minorities and women are to be given special consideration in employment, education, and contracting decisions.

The government runs many programs to increase opportunities for various groups including women, racial and ethnic minority groups. Affirmative action is necessary to ensure the recruitment and employment of women, minorities, people with disabilities, and Vietnam veterans. Affirmative action is a term, which refers to a variety of efforts used by employers and educational institutions to overcome past and continuing discrimination in order to allow qualified women and minorities to compete equally for jobs, education, and promotional opportunities. When talking about affirmative action, there is a common misconception between meeting quota and satisfying goals. A quota is a number that must be achieved. Consequently, if a company fails to show it has made an effort toward following this quota the company can be fined. This is every different from an affirmative action goal. A goal is a flexible percentage, which is established by the company to achieve a diverse workforce. The percentage is based on the availability of minorities and females in the area. One of the goals is to make sure that many people are made aware of job openings as possible to ensure that the applicant pool is reflective of the number of people, who are qualified.

Legalities

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal for employers with at least 25 or employees to refuse to hire or terminate any individual based on an individual's color, religion, race, sex or nationality. None of the provisions under Title VII are to be interpreted as needing preferential treatment for a particular group or individual because of color, religion, race, sex, or nationality. Moreover, Title VII does provide for Affirmative Action in some cases of Affirmative action. (Telerama.com)

Executive Orders

Under the Unites States Constitution the Fourteenth Amendment commands that no governmental entity shall deny a person benefits because he or she may be a member of a particular racial group. (Wilkipedia) In the U.S. Constitution, the "equal protection" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment mandates that no governmental entity burden a person or deny them benefits because mandates that no governmental entity burden a person or deny them benefits because they are members of a particular racial group (see Constitutional Law, Nowak and Rotunda).

The Johnson administration embraced affirmative action in 1965, by issuing U.S Executive order 11246, later amended by Executive order 11375. The order, as amended, aims "to correct the effects of past and present discrimination". It prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, skin color, religion, gender, or national origin. The Order requires that contractors take affirmative action to ensure that "protected class, underutilized applicants" are employed when available, and that employees are treated without negative discriminatory regard to their protected-class status.

The Order specifically requires certain organizations accepting federal funds to take affirmative action to increase employment of members of preferred racial or ethnic groups and women. Any organization with fifty or more employees and an aggregate revenue exceeding $50,000 from federal contracts during a twelve month period must have a written affirmative action plan. This plan must include goals and timetables for achieving full utilization of women and members of racial minorities, in quotas based on an analysis of the current workforce compared to the availability in the general labor pool of women and members of racial minorities.

The order is enforced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs of the Employment Standards Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor and by the Office of Civil Rights of the Justice Department.

Section 717 of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require all United States Federal Agencies to implement affirmative employment opportunity programs for all federal employees. EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Management Directive 715 (MD 715) provides guidance as to how such programs are to be implemented.

Although it is well known which ethnic groups and races are preferred or "protected" by the Government, almost no list or enumeration is made in writing, presumably because of a fear that such a list would be held unconstitutional as a form of invidious discrimination against groups not on the list.

In the beginning, racial classifications that identified race were inherently suspect and subject to strict scrutiny. These classifications would only be upheld if necessary to promote a compelling governmental interest. Later the U.S. Supreme Court decided that racial classifications that benefited underrepresented minorities were to only be upheld if necessary and promoted a compelling governmental purpose. (See Richmond v. JA Croson Co.) There is no clear guidance about when government action is not "compelling", and such rulings are rare.

Individual U.S. states e.g., Missouri also have orders that prohibit discrimination and outline affirmative action requirements with regard to race, creed, color,