Affirmative_Action

| Affirmative Action | | HRM/240 | | | Strategies that will put an end to racism in our society is the responsibility of not only every individual in our community but also the involvement from organizations, and institutions which have enormous impact on our lives. There are thousands of examples of situations where people of color, white women, and working class women and men of all races who were previously excluded from jobs or educational opportunities, or were denied opportunities once admitted, have gained access through affirmative action. When these policies received executive branch and judicial support, vast numbers of people of color, white women and men have gained access they would not otherwise have had. These gains have led to very real changes. Affirmative action programs have not eliminated racism, nor have they always been implemented without problems. However, there would be no struggle to roll back the gains achieved if affirmative action policies were ineffective (inmotion). Despite ongoing debates about affirmative action, it is detrimental to the company and its shareholders’ assets that we implement a plan that fully complies with equal employment opportunity laws. There is more than just legal challenges that are remedied through affirmative action policies; it will also assist in leveling the playing field with diversity in the workplace. Originally, affirmative action created to eliminate racial discrimination. However, the federal government mandated affirmative action practices to equalize racial unfairness and injustice in a chain of steps beginning with an executive order issued by President Kennedy in 1961. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made discrimination illegal and established equal employment opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, cultural background, color or religion (inmotion). As a result, this would be only the beginning of affirmative action policy implementation. In fact, following executive orders, to be precise Executive Order 11246 issued by President Johnson in September 1965, mandated affirmative action goals for all federally sponsored programs and moved observing and enforcement of affirmative action programs out of the White House and into the Labor Department. These policies and the government achievement that followed were a comeback to the incredible deployment of African Americans and white followers during the late 1950s and early 1960s fighting for integration and racial fairness. Even with such triumph and success of acts such as affirmative action policies put into play, there are still many Americans that oppose the effectiveness of the policy. People, particularly white males contest as to whether or not they are paying for prior discrimination laws and as a result cheated out of jobs that they deserve. This may be very well true and if so, this is a deficiency of opportunity and will need to be a focus as there are several specific groups such as blacks that have suffered discrimination, resulting in missing out on job opportunities. This is the very reason that executing a plan that abides with the laws of equal employment opportunity must take priority in order to maintain an environment that avoids challenges of a discriminative nature. Racism, rather than being self-correcting, is self-perpetuating (inmotion). The shortcomings to blacks and the benefits to white people are transferred to the next generation unless corrective action is executed. The disadvantages to people of color merge into influential practices which, although the intent may be racially unbiased, adversely it affects blacks. It is only noble to take measures that will eradicate and compensate for these influential effects of racism, even when it is apparent that there is no discriminatory intent. Affirmative action will not remedy-all, however, it will reduce racial discrimination in society and the work place. Nor will it dissolve competition for limited resources. Affirmative action policies can only warrant a fair chance for everyone to have an opportunity at what is available. They cannot guide us directly through the social policies essential so that people do not have to strive so diligently for scarce resources to begin with. The larger question to ask is why there is not enough sufficient paying, perplexing and safe jobs to go around for everyone' Why is there a shortage on seats in the universities for everyone who desirers a fulfilling education' To grow opportunity for groups who are likely to suffer discrimination means expanding not only their access to current jobs, education and housing (affirmative action), but also eliminating the hurdles that grounds these resources to be scarce (social justice). I can only hope that my recommendation to implement effective polices that address fairness across the board not only in the workplace, but society as a whole has touched everyone in a way to sway your view about affirmative action policies enough to embrace my strategies into the company with open arms. References http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/pkivel.html