Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

A Short History of Workplace Civil Rights The Colonial Era  Employment discrimination in America can be dated from  In the Declaration of Independence, “unalienable” rights are natural rights.  Natural rights exist on a higher plane than civil rights, which are rights bestowed by governments on their citizens.  The unalienable rights statement in the Declaration distills a body of doctrine know as the American Creed.

Civil War and Reconstruction  In the United States, the issue of slavery rose to a crisis in the Civil War.  In 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  Following the war, Congress passed three constitutional amendments designed to protect the rights of former slaves.  These amendments were supplemented by a series of civil rights acts passed by Congress.  With little enforcement of these laws, southern states adopted segregationist statutes called Jim Crow laws.

Other Groups Face Employment Discrimination  Native Americans were widely treated as inferior.  When Mexico ceded Texas, 90,000 Hispanics became U.S. residents, but were victims of a range of discriminatory actions.  In 1851, Chinese laborers began to enter the country to be met by economic and racial discrimination.  The earliest Japanese immigrants found similar inhospitality.

Long Years of Discrimination  Southern legislators were emboldened by Plessy.  Jim Crow laws spread.  Black workers faced blatant discrimination.  These customs spread to the north.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964  In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a new civil rights movement arose.  The pressures of this movement led to many social reforms, among them passage of the Civil Rights Act of  Its Title VII prohibits discrimination in any aspect of employment.  Title VII also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Affirmative Action  The origin of most affirmative action in corporations is Executive Order  The Labor Department issued Order No. 4, which requires federal contractors to analyze major job categories to find out if they are using women and minorities in the same proportion as they are present in the area labor force.  If protected groups are underrepresented, companies must set up goals and timetables for hiring, retention, and promotion. Affirmative Action Policies that seek out, encourage, and sometimes give preferential treatment to employees in groups protected by Title VIII

The Affirmative Action Debate  Utilitarian considerations.  Ethical theories of justice raise questions about the ultimate fairness of affirmative action.  Affirmative action may be debated in light of ethical theories on rights.

Gender Attitudes at Work  The new feminist perspective asserted that working women were entitled to the same jobs, rights, and ambitions as men.  Men who believed in traditional sex-role stereotypes thought that women were too emotional to manage well; lacked ambition, logic, and toughness; and could not sustain career drive because of family obligations.  In the U.S. belief in the traditional stereotype has eroded but proves durable.

Subtle Discrimination  Many workplace cultures are based on masculine values.  In blue-collar settings, sexism may be blatant; some men will openly express biases.  In managerial settings, sex discrimination is usually subtle, even unintentional.  Masculine cultures underlie many kinds of differential treatment.  Men and women learn different ways of speaking in childhood. Later in life these conversation styles carry over into the workplace, where they can place women at a disadvantage.

Corporate Efforts to Promote Diversity  Many large firms go beyond compliance to promote workforce diversity.  Diversity management is a broader effort than affirmative action.  Advocates promote diversity management using two arguments:  It is an ethical action needing no justification beyond its inherent goodness.  It can strengthen business.  To succeed, a diversity management program must be part of the corporate management system.

Key Components of a Diversity Management Program  Leadership  Change in the organization structure  Training programs  Mentors  Data collection  Policy changes  Reward systems