Understanding Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is perhaps the least clearly defined and most controversial concept in San Francisco discrimination law. It has no strict legal definition. There is no agreed upon means to apply it. And over the years even the Supreme Court has contradicted its own and other court decisions regarding its fairness and how far an institution can go in applying it.
A History of Good Intentions
The first public use of the term affirmative action was in a 1961 Executive Order from President John F. Kennedy that created the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and mandated that projects financed by federal funds "take affirmative action" to ensure hiring and employment practices were free of racial bias. But it was President Johnson who perhaps best captured the heart of affirmative action, in a graduation address in June of 1965, when he said:
"You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: 'now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.' You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, 'you are free to compete with all the others,' and still justly believe you have been completely fair . . . This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunityânot just legal equity but human abilityânot just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result."
Education and Employment Targeted for Reform
Outside of requiring government agencies to take affirmative action, policies initially focused on leveling the playing field in education and employment, to ensure minorities shared in opportunities (jobs, admissions, scholarships, financial aid) and rewards (degrees, salary, promotions, career advancement).
Private and government employers, universities and other educational institutions began to implement affirmative action plans to redress and eliminate discrimination. Plans typically covered guidelines for hiring and promoting members of minority groups, and some specified that a representative minority (quota) be employed or enrolled in a business, agency, or institution.
The Application of Affirmative Action Programs Becomes Controversial
The difficulty with applying an affirmative action plan is doing so in a way that provides greater opportunities for minorities, but ensures that those opportunities do not come at the expense of the majority.
What was good in theory became controversial and led to court challenges when it was seen as reverse discrimination. In recent years, the trend has been to move away from affirmative action, and some states, including California, have gone so far as to ban affirmative action.
For an experienced, caring, and dedicated San Francisco employment discrimination lawyer, contact the Law Office of Pamela Pitt to discuss your case with us.
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