Racial Proportionalism and the Origins of Employment Discrimination Policy, 1933–1950

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity ◽  
Labor Policy ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Civil Rights Organizations ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
Remedial Strategies

The 1930s and 1940s saw the beginning of a discussion of the problem of racial discrimination in employment. The Great Depression, the maturation of civil rights organizations, and the New Deal's change in American principles of property rights and-labor policy helped launch this discussion. Campaigns undertaken by black organizations and federal agencies began to grapple with the idea of race-based remedial strategies to combat discrimination in employment, and our modern concept of equal employment opportunity, which holds that an employer's workforce should contain approximately the same proportion of minorities as are present in the population, first received expression in this period.

scholarly journals The Meanings of Black Power: A Comparison of White and Black Interpretations of a Political Slogan

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Aberbach ◽  
Jack L. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Black Power ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Civil Rights Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Black Protest ◽  
True Meaning ◽  
American Cities

Angry protests against racial discrimination were a prominent part of American public life during the 1960's. The decade opened with the sit-ins and freedom rides, continued through Birmingham, Selma, and the March on Washington, and closed with protests in hundreds of American cities, often punctuated by rioting and violence. During this troubled decade the rhetoric of protest became increasingly demanding, blanket charges of pervasive white racism and hostility were more common, and some blacks began to actively discourage whites from participating either in protest demonstrations or civil rights organizations. Nothing better symbolized the changing mood and style of black protest in America than recent changes in the movement's dominant symbols. Demonstrators who once shouted “freedom” as their rallying cry now were shouting “black power”—a much more provocative, challenging slogan.The larger and more diverse a political movement's constituency, the more vague and imprecise its unifying symbols and rallying cries are likely to be. A slogan like black power has no sharply defined meaning; it may excite many different emotions and may motivate individuals to express their loyalty or take action for almost contradictory reasons. As soon as Adam Clayton Powell and Stokely Carmichael began to use the phrase in 1966 it set off an acrimonious debate among black leaders over its true meaning. Initially it was a blunt and threatening battle cry meant to symbolize a break with the past tactics of the civil rights movement.

A Primer on Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Contemporary Enforcement

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Dunleavy ◽  
Lia Engelsted ◽  
Alexander Morris
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity ◽  
Age Discrimination ◽  
Employment Opportunity ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Equal Employment ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Disparate Treatment ◽  
Discrimination In Employment

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the legal issues that are most relevant to industrial/organizational psychologists in the United States. The chapter first reviews the legal process, describing laws and acts relevant to the workplace, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Executive Order (EO) 11246, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, American with Disabilities Act, and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Next, it outlines the equal employment opportunity (EEO) enforcement agencies. It then describes the two broad theories of discrimination, disparate treatment and adverse impact, and the regulatory frameworks. The chapter provides basic primers for a set of contemporary EEO topics, including disability discrimination, pay equity, employer retaliation, and age discrimination. The chapter concludes with the notion that EEO law is constantly evolving, particularly as the scope of who is protected expands and the legal system clarifies ambiguities in the law.

“Petite Engineer Likes Math, Music”

2019 ◽  
pp. 219-232
Author(s):  
Christina K. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
White Male ◽  
Equal Employment Opportunity ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Civil Rights Era ◽  
Professional Science ◽  
Poor Recruitment ◽  
Scientists And Engineers

Christina Roberts explores the perception that NASA performed poorly in hiring women during the long civil rights era, arguing that that argument is based on low recruitment numbers by comparison with many other federal agencies. Others blame NASA’s poor recruitment efforts on an entrenched white male corporate culture that resisted hiring women and minorities into the early 1970s. While not denying NASA difficulties in the area, Roberts argues that what is missing from the historiography is a discussion of gender including NASA’s actual public outreach efforts for equal employment opportunity for women scientists and engineers. Roberts contends that during the late 1950s to mid-1960s NASA sought to transmit a message that women such as Nancy Grace Roman were welcome to apply and would attain professional science and engineering careers at NASA.

Oversight

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Minta
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Linked Fate ◽  
Congressional Oversight ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Minority Interests ◽  
Black And Latino

This book answers the question of whether black and Latino legislators better represent minority interests in Congress than white legislators, and it is the first book on the subject to focus on congressional oversight rather than roll-call voting. The book demonstrates that minority lawmakers provide qualitatively better representation of black and Latino interests than their white counterparts. They are more likely to intervene in decision making by federal agencies by testifying in support of minority interests at congressional oversight hearings. Minority legislators write more letters urging agency officials to enforce civil rights policies, and spend significant time and effort advocating for solutions to problems that affect all racial and ethnic groups, such as poverty, inadequate health care, fair housing, and community development. This book argues that minority members of Congress act on behalf of broad minority interests—inside and outside their districts—because of a shared bond of experience and a sense of linked fate. It shows how the presence of black and Latino legislators in the committee room increases the chances that minority perspectives and concerns will be addressed in committee deliberations, and also how minority lawmakers are effective at countering negative stereotypes about minorities in policy debates on issues like affirmative action and affordable housing.

“Women know how to get things done”: narrative of an intersectional movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Elizabeth Vickery
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
African American Women ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
American Women ◽  
Know How ◽  
Civil Rights Organizations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how African-American women, both individually and collectively, were subjected to both racism and sexism when participating within civil rights organizations. Design/methodology/approach Because of the intersection of their identities as both African and American women, their experiences participating and organizing within multiple movements were shaped by racism and patriarchy that left them outside of the realm of leadership. Findings A discussion on the importance of teaching social studies through an intersectional lens that personifies individuals and communities traditionally silenced within the social studies curriculum follows. Originality/value The aim is to teach students to adopt a more inclusive and complex view of the world.

American Federalism and the Civil Rights Act of 1875

1976 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-328
Author(s):  
S. G. F. Spackman
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Racial Equality ◽  
Legislative History ◽  
Civil Rights Act ◽  
Publicly Supported ◽  
American Federalism

Charles Sumner's Supplementary Civil Rights Bill, which after a tortuous legislative history became law as the Civil Rights Act of 1875, was intended to spell out in specific terms the procedural guarantees of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments and so to outlaw racial discrimination in public accommodation, entertainment and transport, in juries, churches and publicly supported schools and charities. The measure was not only the culmination of Sumner's life-long efforts on behalf of the Blacks, but also the only comprehensive attempt made by Congress during Reconstruction to secure racial equality. Yet the purpose of the Act was undermined even before its passage by die racial ambivalence and political calculations of its supporters, while the challenge it made to traditional concepts of American federalism was defeated in 1883 by the Supreme Court's decision that it was unconstitutional. The nature and extent of this challenge, however, becomes apparent only in the context of the pressures that shaped Republican legislation.

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