Christopher J. Metzler, The Daily Voice
- With the election of Barrack Obama as President of the United States, some are arguing that his success should mean the end of affirmative action. Before decrying its end, I think that people need to understand what it is and what it is not and frame their arguments based on facts, not fiction.
At the federal level, affirmative action is an Executive Order (11246) which imposes a contractual obligation on organizations that wish to do business with the federal government. It is thus voluntary. Organizations may simply elect not to do business with the federal government and avoid any affirmative action obligations. Of course, they would still have to comply with federal Equal Employment Opportunity Laws. As a term of their contract, organizations are required to take proactive steps to correct present discrimination and prevent future discrimination. They do so through good faith efforts.
The groups covered are: racial minorities, women, veterans and persons with disabilities. Lost in the vitriolic and divisive arguments about affirmative action is that white men who are veterans are beneficiaries of affirmative action. Further, statically, white women have been and continue to be the biggest beneficiary of affirmative action.
