Racial discrimination poses a large problem in the American workplace. While it is not as visible as it was in the 1960's it is just as prevalent. It can happen at any stage of employment whether it be hiring, promotion, assignments, or termination. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The law states that is unlawful employment practice to discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. In 2004 the EEOC received 932 color based filings, an astounding 125% more than the 413 in 1994.1 Some of these could be simply attributed to people out to make a quick dollar however it is such a great increase we can see that racial discrimination is still a major factor in the workplace today.
Affirmative action is a result of an executive order issued by Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The article "The Hamilton Right On Affirmative Action" by Benjamin Noble2 that rallies against affirmative action. The idea behind affirmative action may have been a great idea but the notion behind it is simply wrong. While racial discrimination should not be tolerated, affirmative action is not the right answer. The article argues that affirmative action harms the group it intends to protect by projecting more racism against them. I'm sure at one point in their career someone has heard a comment along the lines of ?They only got the pay raise because they were black or mexican.' Affirmative action also sends a message to everyone that minorities aren't capable of being hired based on their education and knowledge. It can actually hurt a persons self esteem knowing they were only accepted to a college because of their race. That p ...