Is Equal Opportunity Really Equal :: essays papers

Is Equal Opportunity Really Equal Is equal opportunity really equal? The civil rights act of 1964 should be revised in order to fit into our society today. I became interested in the topic quite some time ago while working for my stepfather’s small business in California. The rights protected by this act seem outdated. They include a person’s freedom to seek employment wherever they wish, and use of hotels, parks, restaurants and other public places. The act also established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where anyone with a discrimination complaint can go to the commissioner and the EEOC will take the issue to court. This was established for common individuals with lack of support or lack of income, which was an important civil right at the time. It is also illegal to refuse referral to another company due to race, sex or religion. The law forbids discrimination by any program that receives money from the federal government. The government may cut off financing for a program that does not end discriminatory practices or po licies. Who was involved in instituting this act? The president at the time, John F. Kennedy, would work with Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other leaders in the African American community to bring this issue to the Senate in 1963. A year later after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson continued to support it. The law was passed after a 75-day filibuster-one of the longest in Senate history. Out of this civil rights act came the phrase equal opportunity employment. In the publics eye this means equal consideration for employment regardless of an individuals race, color, religion, sex or national origin. These are the guidelines set up by the government for all businesses to follow. If that is true, then why is it that businesses are using the phrase equal opportunity employer as a tool in advertising to potential employees? I can recall a time when my stepfather, Alex Gabrera, placed an ad for another outside salesperson to add to his team of three. The ad did not have much of a description of what the job initialed but in the lower right hand corner in bold was EOE. When I asked why that was so prominent the only reason Alex could come up with was that he needed the best man for the job. Just by putting three little letters in the corner of his ad, he gave over a million readers the impression that he was a fair, impartial man whom will give each and everyone a chance to go to work for him.