Affirmative Action In Seattle Term paper

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Affirmative Action in Seattle



Present efforts to repeal affirmative action are based on several general

misconceptions. One is that our society, having reached a point of true equality,

no longer needs programs that help government recruit and hire qualified women,

people of color, and persons with disabilities. Unfortunately, there is abundant

evidence -- from Census Bureau data and academic studies, to news accounts and

everyday experiences -- that we still have a long way to go to achieve equality

of opportunity for all social groups.


Another misconception is that affirmative action is based on quotas, and

that, as a result, the government is hiring unqualified candidates. This view

fundamentally misrepresents the reality of affirmative action in the City of

Seattle. The City's affirmative action program does not establish numerical

quotas for hiring decisions, nor does it result in the hiring of unqualified

candidates on the basis of gender or race.


What the City of Seattle's affirmative action program does is very

simple: first, it gives City managers and personnel officers a snapshot of the

labor market, so that they are aware of the availability rates for different

groups for a given job classification. Through these availability rates, the

City can determine whether or not women, people of color, or persons with

disabilities are underrepresented in a given job classification within the work

force; second, the City's affirmative action program encourages managers and

personnel officers to make special outreach efforts into groups and communities

that are underrepresented in our work force, in order to increase the number of

qualified candidates in the potential hiring pool;


Third, the City's affirmative action program directs that when there are

two fully qualified candidates for a given position, preference should be given

to the candidate that will make our work force more reflective of the labor pool

and the broader community.


Still another misconception is that affirmative action fosters "reverse

discrimination" by giving minority candidates an unfair advantage over white

candidates. However, a recent statewide study of affirmative action practices

concluded that "whites are the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action

programs affecting hiring -- this includes large numbers of white men as well as

white women."


It is also important to note that once the work force of a certain job

classification within a particular City department reaches the point where it

reflects the diversity of the available labor pool, affirmative action efforts

are terminated for those job classifications. Affirmative action is only

utilized for job classifications where women, people of color, and persons with

disabilities are underrepresented within the work force.


This overall approach has served Seattle well. It has provided a

systematic framework that has opened employment opportunities to qualified

individuals who happen to be members of groups that have experienced long-

standing and persistent discrimination. A review of the City's work force

profiles since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 clearly illustrates the dramatic and

positive impact affirmative action has had on providing equal opportunities for

more women, people of color, and persons with disabilities.


For example, in 1970, white workers represented an overwhelming 92.1

percent of the City's overall work...

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