Equal Employment Opportunities: A Look Inside Affirmative Action

Abstract 

This paper examines the history and legislation of equal employment opportunities and the effects it has had on all aspects of the American workplace. Discussions will include how the origins of Affirmative Action came to be, who it was for and when it was enacted, and what segments of the population have needed the protection and workplace security these laws provide. Topics discussed will be Equal Opportunities for all including the older worker, the physically / mentally disabled worker, and the alien worker, in addition to the more commonly discussed “color and gender” issues. Lastly, Equal Opportunity will be used to discuss how workplaces are now becoming more diverse due to a greater variety of employees, once traditionally discouraged from being part of the company team.


History and Overview

Beginning in 1866, Civil Rights Programs were enacted to ensure that steps were being taken to bring African- American citizens to the same free and equal status that the white Americans had (Sykes, 1995). These laws helped social changes, but employment and economic help did not arrive until much later. Black Trade Leader, A. Phillip Randolph, urged then President Franklin D. Roosevelt to enact legislation, which would give African American workers a fair change at seeking employment with the government. Randolph’s efforts were recognized, when, in 1941, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, which outlawed segregationist hiring policies by agencies who held contracts with the government (Sykes, 1995). During the Truman administration, Truman, in 1953, urged the Bureau of Employment Security to “to act positively and affirmatively to implement the policy of nondiscrimination . . . ." (Sykes, 1995.)