Discrimination

The purpose of this research is to show the effects of racism in America. Racism is defined as one group assumes superiority over other groups that develop attitudes of arrogance and ignorance. Despite many laws and legislation attempts to eliminate the evils of racism, the problem focuses on the cultural differences of race, color and biological supremacy. Racism comes in the form of ethnic cleansing, hate groups, discrimination and restraint of equal rights.

Over the last decade the media has become one of the major contributors of racism in the 21st century. The media have displayed labels on people of color from high- profile crime shows such as Law and Order and CSS, and lately from the George Zimmerman / Tradition Martin trial. With the 9/1 1 attacks on America new racial views and violence began to surface targeting Arabs and people of Middle East descent. Latino has now become an immediate target of racism due to the fear of taking Jobs away from Americans.

With the selection of Barrack Obama as president, most Americans believed that the nation was entering a color-blind society and racial healing, but that did not eliminate racism in America it only intensified it. In order for America to unite on the issue of racism, racial healing is important. In order for Americans to embrace post-racism and accept people of different cultural backgrounds, Americans through programs such as affirmative action, empowerment through education and positive cultural images of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Arab-Americans and Latino displayed by the media can help solve the problems of racism.

By attacking the issues of racism positively and proactively we as a society of diverse cultures can eliminate and solve the reoccurring of racism in America. Key Words: racism, coordination, affirmative action, diversity, equal rights, culture The issues of racism still exist in America today due to the different perceptions from different races. Regardless, of the conscious intent of the American public, everyone is somewhat conditioned, affected or infected daily by racism. Racism is when one group assumes superiority over other groups that develop attitudes of arrogance and ignorance.

Racial discourses were created socially by people beginning to perceive ideas and unfamiliar faces not recognizable. With the constant immigration of Africans, Latino, Asians and Middle-Easterners and there ethnic groups yearly escaping political and economic sanctioned countries found acceptance in America socially difficult. The media has become the major contributor of racism in the 21st century. Since the sass’s the media has given people of color labels from crime shows such as Law and Order and CSS, and lately from the George Zimmerman / Tradition Martin trial.

Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964) racist legislation such as the Jim Crow Laws mainly in the Southern states, enforced segregation legislation that imposed legal punishment on people interacting with other races. The passage of the Civil Rights Act and other coordination laws only soften America’s stance on racism. Racism and racial violence still exist in the 21st century. The 9/1 1 terror attacks in America brought forth new racial views and violence on Arabs and people of Middle East descent.

Even Latino who was not an immediate threat to America has become under the radar of racism. This form of racial acts and ethnic scrutiny is called racial racial profiling. With the choice of Barrack Obama as president, most Americans believed that the nation was entering a post-racial America, becoming a color-blind society where the scars of racism can begin to heal if not dismissed. Despite the hopes of eliminating racism in post -racial America, racism still exists and thrives. In order for America to unite on the issue of racism, racial healing is important through education and treatment.

Media in 21st century post-racial America has fiercely fought to change their format and character of racism to become more political correct. Americans has become more educated and subtle in mainstreaming its views of racism. Social barriers of economic and political disadvantages that were invisible to the American public still exist. It is still a continuous struggle for the unwanted truth of racism and prejudice o become embedded within the hearts of the American society. Past and present leaders of the civil rights movement who fought and died for equality, Justice and social-political change (Dry.

King and others) will continue the fight against racism, while other groups who offer resistance to change of racism, prejudice and discrimination will seek to support the things that they are (Continue, 2011). The domination of power, economic and social control by groups that are deemed superior to over cultures will not change because racism is an institutional ideology. Improvements will be made if America as a nation must work toward eliminating schism and move to a post racial society.

Legislative acts such as the Alien and Sedition Act (1798) was the first legislation of prohibiting racism in the United States to protect French immigrants. The Native American Party (1845) was created to protect Native Americans who feared Irish immigrants who immigrated to America for a better life. Southern states in 1880 began legislation to illegally block African- Americans seeking political positions, the right to vote, segregating public accommodations and public transportation which called for the illegal enforcement of the Jim Crow Laws.

Racism has a long continuous history in America that began from slavery to the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964). There are many forms of racism: open, violent and covert. Open racism focuses on individual freedom to express racial thoughts and speech. Open racism exist in America because of an individual’s freedom of speech derived from the first amendment (Doe, 2012). Societal use of open racism in America is declining and found unconstitutional and politically incorrect. Violent racism is a form of racism that the use of violence is exhibited through imposing fear from racial groups to express their agendas.

Covert racism is the most common type of racism used today. The covert racist is unaware that they are racist. Covert racists’ uses this tactic to intimidate groups or cultures that are inferior to their culture. Individual racism is a form of racism that has one person discriminates against another. Institutional racism is a form of racism when institutions discriminate against a race for unfair and biased reasons, the same reason the individual racist would do (racial profiling).

Lastly racism is in the form of people displaying attitudes about other races and cultures. Since post 9 / 1 1 attitudes toward Arabs has increased because of the attitudes of the American society that all Arabs are considered terrorist. Racism is a disease that has become a serious epidemic in America today. This research examines the evils of racism in post racial America. This paper examines the racial acts of prejudice and discrimination against African-Americans, Hipic-Americans and Arab-Americans.

African-Americans and Racism Since the institution of slavery African-Americans has fought to gain acceptance social changes and racial equality in the United States. Slavery was the most noted Oromo of racism in the United States. The institution of slavery that stigmatize African-Americans created the beginning of Anti-African racism that still exists in the United States today. African -Americans were and are still treated as second class citizens. The Jim Crow laws were the creation of statutes that called for the legalization in the sass’s.

The stories of racism in American laws found in several Supreme Court cases have shaped societal views on race and equality (Welsh, 2009). The effect of slavery, racism and the struggle for civil rights has continued to shape he laws of the country and society (Welsh, 2009). The Supreme Court ruling Peoples v Ferguson stated that separate facilities for blacks and whites were unconstitutional and called for the passage of discriminatory laws and legislations that would strip the political and economic gains by blacks after Reconstruction.

With the success of the African Movement institutionalizing of significant gains since the sass’s Blacks has become an important voter bloc participant at higher rates than white voters of the same socioeconomic status and the number of black political leaders rapidly rising. Although the socioeconomic gap placed between blacks and whites remains the same. With significant progress made against overt forms of racial discrimination, in education and employment gradually becoming evident (Fast, 2008). Sadly the majority still do not have access to most political, economic and cultural resources in the United States.

Because of these factors the majority of African-Americans have been relegated to reside in impoverish conditions while being exposed to social ills such as police brutality, poverty, illiteracy, diseases, unemployment, crime, and drugs (Fast, 2008). With the turn of the 21st century the violent acts of racism has not stopped in America. Racial profiling is now in the new version of racism of blacks and other races because of the color of skin. Racial profiling is an illegal tactic used by law enforcement to stop, question, arrest and search individuals, groups and cultures based on race and ethnicity.

Racial profiling was limited to Africans and Hipics, but since post 9 11 1 Arabs has become one of the most profiled ethnic groups in America. The history of the United States have shown that African Americans have always fought for social change and racial quality that addresses the illegal practices of racial discrimination, institutional racism, biases and racial intolerance’s that are exhibited by law enforcement. The African-Americans quest for equal Justice can be traced in the rich traditions of religion and spiritual history.

The fear of racial indifference and the self interest of the African-American culture make the value in the pursuit of racial equality and social Justice diminish. Civil rights activist such as Dry. King and others has paved the way for social Justice and racial equality. Since the later part of the sass’s crimes omitted by African-Americans has been a central issue in the political arena of American politics. White Americans think the crime issues in America bring about the racial fears, the fear of becoming victims of black offenders and fearing that their communities and neighborhoods will be integrated by African-Americans.

African- Americans are often the victims of violent hate crimes but the fear of reprisals of them being victims creates fear at high levels among the white society in America. African-Americans are more likely to become victims of violent hate crimes more than any other American culture. Police profiling has led to the killing and shooting of African-Americans that whites. This issue has been debated that blacks has a higher rate than whites. Law enforcement illegal practices of racial profiling is not only done on streets but practiced in institutions.

Racial profiling practices by law enforcement agencies involve three types of situations: the war on drugs, stopping citizens that seem out of place in a specific neighborhoods and the crackdown of violent and property crimes. Most African-Americans feel that all police / law enforcement offices are racist or prejudice. This assumption is based on the officers’ attitudes and behaviors. The main focus in stopping racial profiling is the reduction of police misconduct against African Americans and other ethnic minorities.

In order for racial profiling to be eliminated law enforcement agencies must be willing to teach their officers about cultural competency. Organizations such as the UCLA and the Human Rights Watch have pressured national, state and local governments to adhere to the standards of fair treatment of victims and defendants. The UCLA expresses a fear that developing a repressive state will warn against the implementation of anti- pendant, anti-police and pro-prosecutor measures that may undermine any presumptions of innocence and the burden of proof.

The due process will be severely challenged if defendants and victims are denied pre-trail release. The powers of the states will alarm civil libertarians to safeguard the defendant and victims’ constitutional rights while maintaining checks and balances (Daces, 2009). Hipics, Latino, Mexican -Americans and Racism The massive explosion of immigration, Hipics from Mexico and Latino has caused an Anti- sentiment among the American people in regards of the issue of illegal immigrants. Immigrants that come to the United States daily are of Mexican Latino descent and live in extreme poverty.

A large amount of the American population does not support the immigration of Hipics and Latino. Those Americans with Anti-Hipic/ Latino sentiments have the fear that the Hipic immigrants come to this country to take their Jobs. Many Hipic and Latino immigrants are classified as illegal but most are American citizens who came to this country legally. There are the binaries of racism that has caused concerns that needs to be surpassed in order to eave an accurate account of social injustice and political practices of racism (Shelley, 2009).

The black [white binary has misled the American public into thinking that color-coded racism is the model for all types of racism. The race/ ethnic binary cannot Justify the lived experiences and social identity of Latino and Hipic that lives in the United States with the promise/ threat binary that offers distorted views of political situations of Hipics and Latino and Mexican- Americans (Shelley, 2009). Discrimination and hate crimes still remain against Hipics, Latino and Mexican- Americans. The building of the American -Mexican border fence is a good example of racial discrimination and racism.

With the condition of the economy advocates feel that racism and discrimination and unemployment issues against Latino, Hipics and Mexican-Americans may increase. As with African Americans Hipics and Latino are victims of racial profiling by law enforcement officers largely due to drug trafficking and gang violence. Racial profiling, unlawful detainment’s and illegal deportations are some of the racial tactics used by law enforcement agents to Rooney detain and arrest Latino, Hipics and Mexican-Americans.

Police and law enforcement officers using racism as a tool for traffic stops have led to greater incidents of racially profiling, harassing and brutalizing Hipics, Latino and Mexican- Americans. Hipics, Latino and Mexican-Americans continue to be unfairly targeted by the police in illegal traffic stops and searches. Daily routines Hipics do are subject to intimidation and abuse from law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers profile people of color daily while driving, working, in neighborhoods and shopping.

Hipics, Latino and Mexican-Americans have become daily targets of racism, discrimination acts and hate crimes. Human rights watch groups such as the UCLA and the Civil Liberty Union continue to fight to maintain international human rights, to become advocates for racial equality and continue to fight discrimination and racism at all levels. Hipic communities are reported to have higher rates of crimes than other communities nationally. Hipics and Latino have developed a unique experience about police that shapes their attitudes toward law enforcement officials.

Several factors explain patterns of racism twine Hipics, Mexican-Americans, Latino and police range from difficulties understanding English by non English speaking Hipics that develops communication problems with police and do not report crimes of racism. Hipics fear that calling the police will expose criminal acts within their communities. Members of Congress and Senate agree that racism and racial profiling is unconstitutional. Most Americans have the fear that Hipics and Latino are gang members, drug runners and take Jobs from Joe America.

However in the 21st century racism, hate crimes, discrimination and racial profiling continues to remain a national robber that impacts the daily lives of Hipics, Latino and Mexican-Americans. Arabs, Muslims and Racism Muslim minorities are subject to racism and racial profiling by virtue of their perceived Muslim culture. Arab-Americans and Muslims are met with less sympathy than gaining acceptance socially and politically than other religious minorities globally.

Jewish groups are also victims of racism discrimination and hate crimes. The anti -Muslim sentiments and cultural racism displayed in the media give the world alleged misrepresentation of the Arab culture that contributes to the world’s countermanding and creation of sentiments against Arabs and Muslims (Mere & Mood, 2009). The conceptualization of racism assures the protection afforded to racial minorities is conceived as involuntary constituted and should not be extended to Muslims because of their religious identity.

Society may find being sympathetic with a minority that is categorized by society as disloyal or associated with terrorist ideology hard. Americans and the world view Arabs and Muslims as threats rather than a disadvantaged minority subject to increase pernicious discourse of racial discrimination (Mere et al, 2009). The effects of 9 / 11 points out several disturbances socially, economically and politically against people of Middle-East and Arab descent.

A Scuff prospective was created based on the trends and responsibility of humanity globally to encounter the prospective of racism with practical applications of universal value. The basic principles of peace and harmony inherent in the foundation of Islamic culture, along with the power of remembrance are fundamental to the quality of harmony and the need of reflection in the Muslim culture (Rasher, 2011). Americans must renounce the tragedy of post 9/1 1, as a world filled with story, prejudice, discrimination and racism by putting racial healing into practice for the betterment of mankind.

When good and fresh ideas began to flourish, and when principle actions along with the commitment of a common cause, the necessity of embracing cultural is a challenge and blessing off pluralistic nation and inter- connected world ( Rasher, 2011). Since 9 / 11 and the war on terrorism, Arabs and Arab-Americans has become one of the most racial discriminated cultures in the world. Arabs and Arab-Americans continue to experience higher volume of hate crimes, violence, racism and discrimination than African Americans. The Ft.

Hood shooting (2009) by an Army officer of Arab descent caused increased hostility, violence and anti-Arab sentiments against Arabs of Muslim descent. The media through television and movies has portrayed all Arabs and Americans of Arab decent as terrorist, Jihads and the main enemy of the United States. The media and Hollywood give Americans and the rest of the world the false negative image that all Arabs are considered terrorist. Since the 9 / 11 terror attacks Arabs and Arab- Americans has been falsely labeled as being brutal, heartless, and whose main objective is to destroy the United States through Jihads or Holy wars.

Racial profiling and racism is the most used method against Arab-Americans today. Police and law enforcement officials use racism and racial profiling as a tactics to identify and arrest Arabs and Arab-Americans as suspected terrorist because of their ethnic and cultural identities. Since the attacks of 9/1 , the attacks on Arabs and Muslims worldwide have dramatically increased. We as Americans must note that the culture of Islam is not a race nor is being a Muslim. Americans and other nations must embrace the religion, customs and ideology of the Arab culture instead of resorting o racism, prejudice and violence.

Racism in America is a societal disease that affects the lives of cultures through bigotry, hate crimes, prejudice discrimination and violence. As a controversial problem in America, racism is a social and political concern that a dominate individual, culture or group generates the moral issues of racism that can only be solved through political legislation. In the book Souls of Black Folk W. E. B. Du Bois asks the question of ; How does it feels as Black folk (people) to be a problem”. Lenten & Tattle do not give an answer to Du Bois question but provides critical study called the crisis of multiculturalism discourse.

It is the primary means by which minorities today cast as problems of cultural integration and racism (Fem., 2008). Du Bois showed how the failure of multiculturalism has been recorded in a post-racial America. The over emphasis of cultural differences rights of victims play an important role that results in the unintended consequences of social segregation, urban unrest, religious extremism and communal patriarchy ( Quicksand, 2012). Acts 10: 34-35 Peter replies “l see very clearly that God do not show partiality. In every action he accepts those who fear him and do what is right” (Holy Bible N I V).

Racism has been a controversial issue in America since the arrival of the European colonist. The thought of lore the practice of racism in America is the domination by a group that think it is superior than another group that degraded or debased with the use of intimidation and violence to other cultures. In order for the elimination of racism in America people of all colors and cultures must treat each other with respect, humanely and dignity. If not then racism will continue to be a societal disease in post racial America . References Safe, J. (2008).

Affirmative action is a platform that was established by the government as a set of laws and policies for preventing discrimination against individuals. It was for the purpose of offering equal opportunities for employment, education, and business.

Several of our formal Presidents has signed executive orders that was meant for all hiring to be equal regardless of race, color, or national origin with all government contractors and the other specifically for associations which received federal contracts and subcontracts eliminating discrimination within the workforce towards individuals centered on their race, color, religion, and national origin.

Later the affirmative action was modified to include no discriminating against one’s sex. Affirmative action also established preferential handling for minorities and women in the hiring process and the chance to receive a higher education. Affirmative action holds private employers accountable as well.During the Civil Rights movement, affirmation action was a tool that proposed opportunities for women and minorities and to provide equality for them.

There are noted changes in how colleges recruit and enroll students, housing and also how using public transportation where now blacks can sit anywhere since Rosa Parks. Since affirmative action was primarily intended on improving chances for African Americans in employment and education, but there is still a low percentage of improvement that is why an executive order was signed and it required all government and private industry jobs to increase the number of women, disable individuals and minorities to either receive employment or to have the ability to gain an education or have additional training for work enhancement.

There are numerous organization that uses affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policies within their business structure there is still a controversy today surrounding these issues. Are the equal employment opportunity and affirmative action policies have the same meaning? Let’s talk about equal employment opportunity first, the definition is that it bans all types of discrimination.

This means that no matter the race, or gender everyone has the same chance of obtaining and getting promotions as well as training within the workforce. Whereas, affirmative action focus on past discrimination acts which were meant to give women, disabled individuals, and the minorities an equal footing in gaining employment and a higher education.It was to create equality between the workers and employers however it has caused extra adversity in the workforce.

Because many believed that jobs held by whites were being jeopardized. Has affirmative action been consistently and effectively used to create a more robust and productive workforce? I would say yes; affirmative action has made it possible for many to see and earn their desired goals such as their life dreams.

I feel that there are still many obstacles but if one applies themselves there are no limitations. Barak Obama was our nation’s first black President and there are many who hold prominent leadership roles that also includes women. Recently in the news, it was announced that the FBI, for the first time in history that there may be a woman heading this department.Though affirmative action has come along way there are those who still discriminate and don’t offer equal chances for others to succeed.

Affirmative action has allowed the workforce to become more diverse in races, genders, and cultures. We must remember that the affirmative action is not about letting minorities to get into college or to get a job, but it’s about giving qualified individuals no matter their race a chance that they may not get otherwise.In conclusion has affirmative action been consistently and effectively used to create a more robust and productive workforce? I would say yes it has worked extremely well. I hope to see it continue because there are many more who could benefit from this program.

What is the distinction between equal opportunities and managing diversity? How is it possible to justify either in an organisation? What are the distinctions between equal opportunities and managing diversity? Equal opportunity ensures that all personnel decisions that relate to recruitment, pay and promotion are only based on an individual’s capability to do their job well.

Equal Opportunities: The term used to describe ‘policies and practices that tackle inequalities, aiming to ensure that all staff are treated fairly, and that service users do not experience discrimination’Equal opportunity is concerned with keeping within the law; all organisations are required by law not to discriminate an individual by reasons of their colour, marital status, disability, gender, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins. At the very least organisations should abide by the; Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Diversity however is a more wide-ranging approach to equal opportunity. Diversity focuses on valuing the varying of qualities that employees bring to their job and organisation. Managing diversity therefore is when a manager creates an environment where the employees feel valued for their individual talents and where the employee’s skills and competencies are fully utilised. Taking advantage of all employees’ full potential will benefit the organisation in many ways; such as it will encourage employees to work to the best of their ability and a wide range of experience, creativity and ideas will be brought to the organisation.

Managing diversity can be defined as ‘a planned, systematic and comprehensive managerial process for creating an organisational environment in which all employees can contribute to the strategic and competitive advantage of the organisation, and where no one is excluded on the basis of factors unrelated to production. ’ Equal opportunities within the workforce have many advantages; everyone is treated fairly and without prejudice, removing barriers which impact more harshly on individuals of reasons such as gender, disability, and race, focusing on an individuals abilities rather then who they are.

Furthermore the concept of equal opportunities also has its disadvantages; positions such as nurses are mostly seen as a ‘women’s job’ therefore a patient might not be comfortable with having a male nurse and a job that requires heavy lifting is seen as a male position therefore a male is more likely to be recruited. If two candidates both have the qualifications needed for the job description, managers may feel that they should recruit the candidate who fits the equal opportunity policies rather then the candidate who they feel is more suitable to cope better with the dedication that the job requires.

Diversity within the workforce has many advantages. These advantages include; a greater access to a wider range of individual strengths, experiences and perspectives, a greater understanding of the diverse groups of potential and existing customers represented within the workforce, better communication with these diverse groups of potential and existing customers and an improved legitimacy and organisational image across a wider audience. Diversity within the workforce also has disadvantages as well as advantages.

Some of the disadvantages include; an increase in conflict among the workforce as differences in opinion makes it more difficult to agree on solutions, poorer internal communication because levels of knowledge and comprehension differ between employees, an increase in the management costs that arise from dealing with potential conflict and communication problems. Valuing diversity means that organisations recognise that all individuals have complex identities made up of many strands.

These can include, but are not limited to, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation physical and mental aptitudes, nationality, socio-economic status, and religious, political or other beliefs. This means we embrace and celebrate our differences in a positive environment, and are committed to engage with the needs of our diverse staff and users to enable us, both individually and corporately, to achieve our aims. From 1971 to 2001 the rate of female participation in the workplace had increased from 56. % to 72%. This increase is due to equal opportunities; all organisations are required by law not to discriminate an individual by their gender, both men and women are equal. The Sex Discrimination Act meant that both men and women are to be treated equally in the recruitment and selection process therefore resulting to an increase of female participation in the workplace which then resulted to a decrease in male participation rate, now at 84% (Equal Opportunities Review).

However equal opportunity is not yet completely equal; for instance pay differentials between men and women have only narrowed down a little since initial improvement after implementation of Equal Pay Act 1970, women still earn 18% less. Racial and ethnic groups’ rate of unemployment is still more compared to white population. Also disabled peoples’ rate of employment is 53% compared to 84% for non disabled. Age discrimination often occurs; both being too young and being too old is discriminated against.

Coded language in a job description is used to identify the age range in which they managers are looking for. Managers tend to see young applicants as less worthy and less capable of fulfilling the job position. Managers also see old applicants as unreliable and they are not regarded as long term workers so they are less likely to hire an older applicant. Not all discrimination however is direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination can occur; this is when a requirement is applied equally but it affects one group more negatively then the others.

Managers are faced with a number of problems when it comes to equal opportunities and diversity. Firstly they are faced with the problem of how to ensure fairness; it is not always possible to comply with the rules, for instance where a job requires heavy lifting it is more practical to seek a male worker as they are known to be the psychically stronger sex however this is not always the case. Another question managers need to face is should they ignore the differences and treat people equally or acknowledge differences and treat people differently?

Everyone is an individual and therefore their differences should be taken into account when a manager makes a decision; for instance an employer has to make reasonable adjustments in respect of a disabled employee. Equality and diversity is vital for both the employees and the success of the organisation. Managers have a moral obligation to treat all individual with the same fairness and equality. It is important for managers to make their decisions without prejudice and stereotype. However it could be argued that a manager’s aim is increase profit not morality.

Equality and diversity is also important to the success of a business. Equality and diversity would lead to a positive company image; therefore attracting customers and creating customer loyalty. However it is difficult to find a meaningful measure of equality and diversity. How is it possible to justify equal opportunities and managing diversity in an organisation? Tesco is an example of an organisation that tries to provide diversity for all individuals, no matter their differences.

For example Tesco has devoted itself to providing more employment opportunities to disabled people by signing agreements with disability employment providers Remploy and the Shaw Trust. This has lead to 400 disabled people getting recruited. “The local community is very important to Tesco and these vital agreements ensure we help local disabled people to find employment” announced Claire Peters, head of resources. Another example is that Tesco tries to extend its workforce’s working knowledge of religions operating in the UK.

Tesco issues employees with religious toolkits to improve their knowledge and understanding of all religions and their corresponding festivals, daily routines and eating habits. Tesco also provide mangers with a support pack at Ramadan which help them understand how to support staff and customers better during this time of fasting for Muslims. ‘Everyone is welcome’ is the name given to Tesco’s diversity work and it is driven by the value ‘look after our staff so they can look after our customers. Everyone is welcome trains managers so that they will feel more confident in encouraging talent from more under represented groups. Tesco takes part in national benchmarking surveys, giving them an independent assessment of how they perform under each area of diversity. This year they were awarded Gold standard in the Opportunity Now benchmarking survey and they were also recognised as an Age Positive Employer Champion by the Department of Work and Pensions. They have recently completed the Employer’s Forum on Disability Survey and the Stonewall Diversity Champions Index.

In addition another organisation that aims to provide diversity within the workforce is Toys R Us. Toys “R” Us is a major retailer of toys and children’s merchandise and has stores spread across the world. To ensure the employees are comfortable with discussing differences, Toys R Us chose to begin their workforce diversity with one day of LIFO training. LIFO training has gone beyond the successful, turnover-reducing diversity program to take an important part in the management development curriculum and in training line managers to facilitate performance improvement with store personnel.

The workforce diversity program aims to encourage employees to discuss their differences and to ensure they feel comfortable and to provide a great source of insight. It is aimed to enable their participants to open up and share with each other their own styles and how their styles had helped or hindered them in the business setting. Including LIFO training in the diversity workforce program has enabled Toys R Us to achieve a number of key program goals and it has helped participants identify behaviours they want to change and what will motivate them to change.

In conclusion the distinction between equal opportunities and managing diversity is; equal opportunities are policies that tackle inequality such as race and gender whereas managing diversity focuses on the varying of qualities whereby managers create an environment where the employees feel valued for their individual talents. The equity and diversity policies are designed to develop equal opportunities policies, provide training, review recruitment, selection, promotion and training procedures, consider the organisations image, set an action plan and draw up a clear and reasonable job criteria.

References: Managing diversity (Online) Available at: http://www. ncvo-vol. org. uk/askncvo/index. asp? id=178 Accessed on 23/4/08 Tesco diversity (Online) Available at: http://www. tescocorporate. com/page. aspx? pointerid=7CA5D7226B6E40808B3FFC797B2443D7 Accessed on: 24/4/08 Diversity and equal opportunities (Online) Available at: http://www. nationalarchives. gov. uk/jobs/equalopportunities. htm Accessed on: 25/4/08 Toys R Us (Online) Available at: http://www. bcon-lifo. com/doc_library/ToysRUs_turnover. htm Accessed on: 25/4/08

Discrimination comes on various ways, it is either based on race, religion or even the type of gender an individual has. But for the scope of this paper, we are only going to consider gender’s role in business meetings in Brazil – a country wherein gender is greatly differentiated as compared to the United States. Americans even way before made an effort to ignore gender differences in work place either through legislation or by social norms.

This only means that, even if you are a woman or a man, there is an equal chance for you to be promoted, have equal freedom to express yourself and have equal opportunity to assume higher positions in the company. Americans do not relate gender to the potential performance of an individual. On the other hand, Brazilians seems to become so sensitive when it comes to considering the type of gender an individual has before giving the said person respect and/or accept his/her authority.

Generally, most of the Brazilians treat their men as superior and knowledgeable as compared to Brazilian women. Meaning, Brazilian men has always been given priority in every gender role in the Brazilian society. In the line of business, Brazilian women accept that fact that Brazilian men will always have the higher positions in the company and oftentimes, what is being left for women is the position of the secretary or any other lower corporate position.

It is clear that this is already a kind of gender discrimination- depriving women to assume higher positions in a company despite her performance and skills in handling the said position. In business meetings, Brazilian women are being expected to wear attires that will emphasize their femininity and this could be achieved through the design of the attire as well as using make-up to get the attention of Brazilian men (Victor, 2006).

This is very much different in the context of American culture since American women has a more formal design of attire regardless the level of its femininity as compared with that of the Brazilian women. It would be also advisable for Brazilian women to wear skirts and high heals in order to high light their femininity which Brazilian men always wanted to see to the former. Moreover, during a meeting, women are being heard less as compared to men. Opinions of a Brazilian man have a premium over the opinions of Brazilian women even if the opinion of the latter is more feasible.

In other words, between the words of a Brazilian man and a Brazilian woman, it is the word of the former which will be heard by the board or the CEO even if the word of the latter is more feasible and realistic as compared to the words of a Brazilian man. On the other hand, in the American culture, it is the quality of the proposal or opinion that serves to be the basis of recognition and not the gender since, as what I have already said a while ago, American men and women have equal chances of being recognize the have the same sets of rights.

To some degree, we could say that, Americans are more productive and efficient as compared to Brazilians since the former base their judgment on the output not on the gender. These are the reasons why multinational companies, when making business deal with Brazilians, must send a male representative than with a female in order to have a greater chance of closing the deal. Brazilian men do not want the feeling of being overpowered by women regardless of its origin and nationality.

It was a shame on their part to be lectured by women or was not able to solve a company problem until such female representative from other international branch came. With the patriarchal society Brazilian has, it would be very hard on the part of the Brazilian women to oppose this said kind of social structure and same goes to American women who used to work in Brazil (DeBiaggi, 2001). Actually, it is not only in Brazil where this kind of discrimination takes place, other Latin American countries also exhibit this kind of social condition where women are being treated as next to men.

They never experience equal right on their home, school and even offices. Moreover, the situation becomes worse due to the lax policies of the Brazilian government to address the said kind of discrimination from their women (United Nation, 2003).

The Webster”s New World Dictionary defines affirmative action as “a policy or program for correcting the effects of discrimination in the employment or education of members of certain groups. ” President Lyndon Johnson issued executive Order 11246. This required federal contractors to take “affirmative action” to increase the number of minorities that they employed. President Johnson”s order he put in place has since been twisted and turned around to what it is today.

Such twists and turns include the hiring of unqualified workers, the causing of problems for groups it originally set out to help, and the reverse discrimination that results in unfair standards into higher education and the work force. Affirmative action creates an equal opportunity for people in the work force and for students seeking higher education. However, while affirmative action creates equal opportunity to for some individuals, it discriminates against others, primarily white males. Take for example some police forces.

If a member of a minority group is hired over a more qualified person and they are forced to be in a situation they cannot handle then that is a major problem of affirmative action. Therefore, affirmative action uses reverse discrimination to solve the problem of discrimination. In “Assessing Affirmative Action”, an article by Harry Holtzer and David Neumark , says that “many firms where more likely to hire women and minorities with lesser qualifications, but also to give them remedial training, thus erasing the differences”(Holtzer1).

In many cases you see that affirmative action helps most minorities and women but has its obvious drawbacks. In another article by George Gurin, “Sizing Up Affirmative Action”, he say”s that “To many colleges and businesses are being almost to open on who they let in and who they don”t only because they are trying too hard”(Gurin3). In my opinion I think that affirmative action is a great thing to have in today”s society, our nations development is credited to many different cultures coming together to form one great one. We will forever have the fight of discrimination, but there is not in my opinion one-way to satisfy everyone.

As mentioned earlier affirmative action does hurt some of the people it set out to help. Consider an employer who hires a member of a certain minority group on the basis of skills alone. Many of the employees may automatically assume that the individuals appointment to that job is resulted from affirmative action. Therefore, an employee who does benefit from affirmative action may bear the brand of “not being the best pick, but the best pick of a limited group(Pasour). ” Another part of affirmative action that is commonly brought up is women in the government.

In earlier times people wouldn”t even consider having a woman in positions where they would be making decisions for men. In this day they were almost treated like the slaves that they owned. One of the only jobs that women did was to work in factories and low income jobs. Today women hold the top positions in some jobs. Companies are hiring and promoting women the same is they do men. Is this a result of affirmative action? When women were given their rights it was. Today it is easy to see that women are just as qualified as men at what they do. The question of having a woman president is still up for grabs.

I think that it will still be a long time before society feels comfortable with a woman controlling their nation. That in it”s self would be another consideration. Would other countries take us seriously and treat us with the same respect they do now. In time affirmative action may be the winner in that a woman president is closer than everyone may think. Another heated issue with affirmative action is the issue of African Americans. America has been a racist country from the start. But as time has passed and people have accepted other races as their own.

This was not until recently when people thought like this. In the case of the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), a special admission program setting aside 16 places in the medical school class for disadvantaged students, chiefly racial minorities, violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and title VI of the civil rights act of 1964(Regents2). All in all today”s society is growing towards the acceptance of different races and minorities. And one stepping-stone to that acceptance is the issue of affirmative action.

I both agree, and disagree with what the author is saying in this article. He starts by saying that our chances of succeeding are influenced by the generation of our family that came before us, and by our network of friends and acquaintances. He applies the term “social capital,” to this. He then goes on to say that the government needs to take responsibility for ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity get a job, be accepted into a university, or move up in their company.

The next five paragraphs are spent arguing against “color-blind absolutism,” that is, the idea that we should ignore race altogether. To this point in the article, I could not agree more. I believe most rational thinking people learn from their parents, older siblings and even their extended families. They see the mistakes that their families made and want to do better. In my family for instance, I am the youngest of six children. My parents grew up in farming communities and had little or no education. I was the first in the family to go straight through high school and graduate.

Only the four youngest of six children received a high school diploma or equivalent, and only myself and one of my brothers has had any education beyond that. I see this as a natural evolution that takes several generations. Some of my older siblings did not see the value of an education, or of planning your future and setting goals. While I saw the mistakes they made, it took me several years to realize that my success was dependent on setting goals, and the actions I took to achieve them. I also agree with the author assertion that society cannot be completely colorblind.

We do not need to pretend that we are not different, we need to accept and embrace each other’s differences. We need to recognize and respect the each other’s cultures. Color and race will forever be used, just as height and weight are used to describe people. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging our differences, as long as we do not perceive those differences as negatives. I have to disagree with the remainder of the article. He has taken offense, apparently, to the perception that blacks need to be given preferential treatment to achieve a degree of success.

I believe that he is arguing that affirmative action is demeaning to blacks, but what he should be arguing against is not affirmative action, but white society’s perception of affirmative action. Used as it was intended, affirmative action does not give minorities preferential treatment, it gives them an opportunity to compete with other applicants of equal qualifications. Human nature being what it is, opportunities do not always present themselves solely because of a persons skills, qualifications, or persistence.

I recently read that a high percentage of positions are filled not through newspaper ads, or recruiting agencies, but through word of mouth. The best place for employers to look for new employees is often from their current employees. If this is true, then unless your work place is already racially diverse, most of your new hires are likely to come from similar racial or ethnic background as the majority of your workforce. Breaking this cycle takes a conscious effort. I believe this is the case in organized labor organizations.

Perhaps there is no conscious effort to keep blacks or minorities out, but a desire to get one’s family and friends in, so that they too may enjoy the benefits of a good job. I believe I benefited from affirmative action when I joined the union apprenticeship program. Had it not been for the pressure applied on unions to diversify, there is little doubt in my mind that someone’s son or nephew would have received that position. And that person would most likely have been a white male. The intention of affirmative action is to level the playing field, not to tilt it in the direction of minorities.

If it is improperly used, we must not blame the program; we must blame the people that are administering it. Universities should not lower standards, but encourage academically qualified minorities to apply and support programs that help increase the pool of qualified applicants. While it is true that an individuals success depends largely on that individuals own drive and self determination, history has taught us that things are not going to get better without some governmental intervention.

Do you remember your first day of school ? How was it ? Was it scary? I bet going to a segregated school where you were getting all types of looks , its way different the early 1900’s. from people judging you about the clothes you were to the style of your hair.

This article discusses Richard M . Nixon , the United States President in 1968 gave birth to the modern reform movement through public vouchers and other educational reform measures under his ” Southern Strategy ” that was designed to gain the votes of individuals who oppose school desegregation . The political activities in school desegregation after Brown by the two major political parties , namely the democrats and the republicans are discussed.

President Richard Nixon reacted to the 1971 court decision on Swann verses Charlotte- Mecklenburg school district , a school desegregation case that approved to use of race to assign students to school by the use of busing , by instructing the U.S. justice department to draft a constitutional amendment to nullify the court’s decision. (Kruger 1975 )

In my view President Richard Nixon was just trying to get white American votes . Bussing is still going today for example ; where I stay I’m between two elementary school’s and you would think that my children could attend both schools but that’s not the case . I guess the way the school district resolved the issue was by halving up the neighborhood.

Which I consider crazy because back when I was going to school my road in particular wasn’t considered a bus stop and our parents were able to choose whichever school .they wanted us to attend . Now , the way they separated the neighborhood the cut off spot or road I should say is the road right before mine . We didn’t have that problem because we had to go to the next road anyway to catch the bus the same exact road they use as a cut off for the first elementary school.

I think its so selfish how we as a people can’t get along enough to join and become equal enough to get an education . I thought that was the reason for the separate but equal doctrine . Opposition to school desegregation was intense from the beginning and continues to this day ; and the results are clear , that is , the whitest American do not support school desegregation ( Jeffries , 1994 ; Motley , 1998 ; Olgetree , 2004).

This is so true because In 1970 , Vigor High School on Wilson Avenue , which had been Prichard’s white high school during segregation , was 70% white . By 1980 , It was 80% black . Although most of Prichard’s remaining majority-white areas were in this district , many families had put their students into parochial or private schools . Before this came about Prichard was predominately white until they move black in the area to work at the paper mill.

I totally agree with frank browns argument favoring integration on buses and in all areas of public accommodation and travel . Human beings have struggled with / on centuries to gain equal rights . Western civilization has been characterized by the hegemonic domination by white males.

This power structure has frequently and historically excluded women and minorities . In the United States , despite the foundational creed that ” all men are created equal , ” it has taken centuries of struggle to gain equal rights . Equal rights , of equality before the law , means that all individuals are subject to the same laws of justice. People must be treated equally with / as / for regard to race , gender , national origin , skin color , religion or disability.

African Americans were one of the first groups granted equal rights in the United States , through the passage of the 14th Amendment , which outlawed slavery . Achieving equal rights in reality took another century of struggle . Women , as well , although granted the right to vote for / by 1920 , continue to work towards equal rights , most recently through pay equity . Congress should terminate all programs because of the harm they caused minority students.

I am so glad they passed the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that No person in the United States shall , on the ground of race , color , or national origin , be excluded from participation in , be denied the benefits of , or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . Equality means everyone has an identical quantity of everything ; no one is considered superior or inferior.

Equality means that all children can grow up and go to school with equal access to the English language here in America . Everyone should be treated as fairly and as worthy of respect and basic rights as their peers from the moment they are born . People being able to be themselves , walking through life with inherent characteristics that should be considered neutral such as ethnicity , skin color , gender , physical disabilities , mental disability without having to face discrimination based on their presence or characteristics.