Affirmative Action Plan
Affirmative Action was set in motion in 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Executive Order 11246. The Executive Order prevents federal contractors from discriminating against any employees and applicants for the employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin (Alexander & Hartman, 2007, 179). Affirmative action is created because of the past discrimination and domination, such as the unequal treatment of women, African Americans, and minorities. When affirmative action was created, it only included minorities, but in 1967, President Johnson expanded the program to include women because women were discriminated against much like minorities (Alexander & Hartman, 2007, 179). This paper will summarize the elements of Affirmative Action and its applications to the workplace.
Affirmative action began as a government remedy to help, educate, and improve employment opportunities for members of minority groups and for women. Affirmative action was a system used to avoid discrimination; however, in today's world it has become reverse discrimination in many cases. Everyone should have the equal opportunity. The color of the skin does not determine capability of the individual person.
The Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination which is defined as different behavior to individuals based on race and gender that are qualified to perform the job. Equal employment opportunity is the practice of nondiscrimination in employment decisions and to ensure proactive efforts that qualified minorities, women, and individuals with disabilities are identified and offered opportunities to apply for available employment at all levels of the company (U.S. Commission On Civil Rights, 2005).
Equal employment opportu ...