The Eeoc

& Affirmative Action Essay, Research Paper

The EEOC & Affirmative Action

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is based on the thought that every living individual deserves and equal opportunity to acquire a job, and that the most qualified person should receive that job. Affirmative action is based off of the EEOC and was originally designed to help minorities, but women-especially white women-have made the greatest gains as a result of these programs. Over the past thirty years women have gained more respect for them and have gained worldwide recognition. Affirmative action is a growing argument among our society that is faced every day by thousands of people. Many people define affirmative action as the ability to strive for equality amongst others in the workforce. Others might see it as a system for different minority groups, which allows them to acquire a job at the same level as the next person. I feel affirmative action, as an assurance that the best qualified person will receive the job.

Is affirmative action fair? Many people agree with it but also there are many that believe that the EEOC and Affirmative Action is unfair. In 1974, a woman named Rose was turned down for a well paying job in favor of a male who was lesser qualified. She was told that she was the most qualified person, but the position was going to be filled by this man mainly not for his job skill or his qualification but, because he had a family to support. Five years before that, when Rose was about to fill an entry-level position in banking, a personnel officer outlined the woman s pay scale, which was $25 to $50 month less than what men were being paid for the same position. Rose was furious because she felt this was discriminating to her. When she confronted the personnel officer about the current situation his response was that there was nothing wrong and it could not be changed. Thanks to affirmative and the EEOC today things like these situations are becoming more rare and/or corrected with more discrepancy then in the past. Affirmative action has definitely helped women and minorities in their careers enabling them to acquire higher positions in the workforce. Some observers argue that women have made huge sacrifices to ensure fair treatment amongst fellow employees. They now hold 40 percent of all corporate middle-management jobs.

And the number of women-owned businesses has grown by 57 percent since 1982 (Blackwood, 1995).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was designed to give qualified minorities a chance to compete on equal levels with Whites. Equal opportunities for the blacks, for the most part, have remained more wishful thinking than fact. Black students are continuing to struggle to seek a higher education, black business owners are still competing against their White counterparts, and black workers are experiencing an unemployment rate that is twice as high as the Whites.

The employment outlook for minorities is grim, but not hopeless and everyday minorities are continuing to fight for equal rights. We definitely need affirmative

Action to overcome the disparities of employment that exist in his country. A recent Urban Benchmarks study found that of 71 metro areas surveyed nationwide, Pittsburgh had the highest rate of employment-related problems among non-Hispanic whites between the ages of 25 and 54 and the sixth highest rate among African Americans in the same age group. We have a lot of problems with basic education here

And if you don t have basic education, you have no chance of getting a good job in the competitive workforce because competition is increasing for everyone. Many

Jobs today are in the technician and technologist area and require more know how that an High School diploma, but less than a four-year degree–such as an associate degree or certificate in some situations is a high qualification and is more then suitable to acquire a respected position. As more and more women faced discrimination in large firms and in corporation, more decided to strike out on their own and to be more involved in the EEOC and Affirmative Action.

In conclusion, most Americans know that the deck is stacked against poor kids just as C. Darrow explains in his article. They also realize that, because of past discrimination, an extraordinary number of those facing unequal opportunities that are black. So, while 75 percent of Americans oppose racial preferences, two-thirds wish to change the policies of the EEOC and Affirmative Action rather than do away with them entirely. But the public also realized that, in real life the legacy of discrimination is not always so neat and that it will continue to go on no matter what laws are past or how much protesting is done.

Bibliography

1) A Question of Fairness Ladies Home Journal, March 1996, p 17-20.

2) Boston, Thomas. Ready, Aim, Fire Black Enterprise. March 1996, p 24.

3) Chappell, Kevin. What They Don t Tell You About 4) Affirmative Action Ebony

August 1995, p 6-12.

5) Clinton s Focus on Diversity U.S. News and World Report. March 20, 1995,

p. 42.