Take a listen to some recent episodes of Revolutionary Black Radio…
___________________________________________________________
NUMBER OF
DISCRIMINATION
SUITS SOAR
By Jennifer Hicks
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will not go out of business. Charges of racial discrimination and sexual harassment have increased every single decade since Title VII was passed in 1964. The statistics are chilling:
- Sexual harassment charges increased 146 percent between 1992 and 2001. They have increased 150,000 percent since 1980. (1)
- Pregnancy discrimination charges increased 126 percent between 1992 and 2001. (2)
- Sexual discrimination charges increased 112 percent during the same period. (3)
- Racial discrimination charges increased 484 percent between the 1980-1989 decade and the 1990-1999 decade. (4)
- National origin charges increased 112 percent in the period 1992-2001. (5)
What’s worse is that the above numbers account for only some of the discrimination suits that have been filed Not all complaints go through the EEOC; some are filed independently.
Historical Background
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 precludes any form of employment-related discrimination based on an individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Since its enactment, employment-related discrimination suits have climbed more than 100 percent per decade. And, before you think that this statistic merely reflects a litigious society in general, keep in mind that civil case filings in the federal courts between 1990 and 2000 showed only a 20 percent increase.
Why the Increase in Discrimination Suits?
Researchers John Donohue and Peter Siegelman suggest that two reasons exist for this increase in discrimination lawsuits:
- the increase in the number of non-whites and women in professional and managerial positions
- the increasingly integrated character of the workplace, making it easier to observe unfair practices against a particular group or groups
Certainly each statement has merit and could indeed be perceived as contributing to an increase in awareness of discriminatory practices. In addition, a couple of surveys on racist attitudes show that such attitudes have diminished over time.
But a National Opinion Research Center survey, judged to be more accurate since it used a seven-point scale, concludes “most Americans see most minority groups in a decidedly negative light on a number of important characteristics….[and] ethnic images remain important determinants of inter-group attitudes.”
Combine the above findings with the following:
- The number of hate groups in the United States jumped by approximately 10% in the year 2000, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
- In seven of the ten industries studied by the General Accounting Office, the wage gap between male and female managers widened between 1995 and 2000.
- There were 645 bias incidents between September 11 and September 17, 2002. These incidents ranged in severity from racist jokes to assault, arson, and shootings. The victims were often Americans of South Asian or Middle Eastern heritage.
- A National Urban League survey of African Americans under age 35 found the single most important problem facing blacks was racism and discrimination.
- The Harvard University Civil Rights Project found that 70% of the nation’s black students go to predominantly minority schools; 37% of Latino students attend schools where 90% to 100% of the students are also minorities; white students tend to go to schools where more than 80% of the students are also white
- “There is one final reason for forgetting indigenous people. Our crimes against them are too horrible to contemplate… [T]he American nation in essence conducted a two century war against the indigenous people (ethnic cleansing in which blacks also participated) which didn’t end until Wounded Knee. That’s pretty hard to contemplate and mighty expensive to deal with. So the problem is swept under the enormous rug of American fantasy and forgetfulness.” – Roger Wilkins, professor at George Mason University
When taken in context, then, the meteoric rise in employment-related discrimination and harassment suits clearly isn’t just about an increase in the diversity of the workforce.
In fact, it looks increasingly as if racist and misogynist attitudes are on the rise.
