In essence, affirmative action creates an environment where equal employment opportunity can prevail. The inverse relationship between affirmative action and discrimination is reflected in the Executive Order itself, which begins with a prohibition against discrimination. The affirmative action program incorporated in the regulations has its origins in the private sector, where contractor “Plans for Progress” were reportedly designed to take positive action and prevent discrimination lawsuits.Īffirmative action programs encompass more than outreach and recruitment, however, and include efforts to prevent discrimination by eliminating barriers to equal employment opportunity. Where appropriate, the contractor is required to establish reasonable goals to measure success toward achieving that result. Where problems are identified, the contractor is required to develop a program that is precisely tailored to correct the deficiencies. Executive Order 11246 and its regulations refer to a process that requires a government contractor to examine and evaluate the total scope of its personnel practices for the purpose of identifying and correcting any barriers to equal employment opportunity. Commission on Civil Rights, Statement on Affirmative Action, October 1977.)Īffirmative action has varying definitions depending upon the sector in which it is found, e.g., education, government contracting and employment. It has also faced considerable challenges, rhetorical and legal, waxing in certain presidential administrations, waning in others.Īffirmative action itself has been defined as "any measure, beyond simple termination of a discriminatory practice, adopted to correct or compensate for past or present discrimination or to prevent discrimination from recurring in the future." (U.S.
It has faced much success, as evidenced in the marked increases of women and persons of color in private industry, in government, and in the Academy. The quest for equality as a right and as a result has taken more than 50 years.
ANOTHER WORD FOR REVERSE DISCRIMINATION FREE
… You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, “You are free to compete with all the others,” and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.
Contractors were to take affirmative action to ensure nondiscrimination in employment, upgrading, demotion or transfer, recruitment or recruitment advertising, layoff or termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, and selection for training, including apprenticeship.īefore signing the order in September 1965, President Johnson uttered the words that continue to resonate today during his speech at Howard University’s Commencement, June 4, 1965: Freedom is not enough. In 1965, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Executive Order 11246, which gave the Secretary of Labor responsibility for administration and enforcement of the Order mandating that contractors not discriminate against any employees or qualified applicants because of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Executive Order 10925 imposed on all covered contractors a general obligation requiring positive steps designed to overcome obstacles to equal employment opportunity.
President Kennedy incorporated the concept of “affirmative action” into Executive Order 10925, which he issued in 1961. To a greater degree, the indifference of employers to establishing a positive policy of nondiscrimination hinders qualified applicants and employees from being hired and promoted on the basis of equality. Overt discrimination, in the sense that an employer actually refuses to hire solely because of race, religion, color, or national origin is not as prevalent as is generally believed. In its Final Report to President Eisenhower, the President's Committee on Government Contracts, headed by Vice President Richard Nixon, concluded:
The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED):
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