Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Reconsidered:Introduction to the Symposium
Abstract
5 Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity ReconsideredIntroduction to the Symposium SAGE Publications, Inc.1997DOI: 10.1177/0734371X9701700402 J. Edward Kellough University of Georgia tscrtmtnatton on the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender has been one of the most enduring social problems experienced in the United States. It has generated a legacy of hardship and diminished hopes for innumerable women and minority group members who have borne the weight of its burden. While it is true in many respects that progress has been made in the struggle against injustice and prejudice (Tuch & Hughes, 1996), we still periodically encounter blunt reminders that the problem of discrimination is yet to be eliminated. Perhaps the most dramatic example to emerge recently was the revelation of racial prejudice within the highest executive levels of the Texaco corporation in the fall of 1996 (Eichenwald, 1996), but the tenacious nature of discriminatory behavior has also been documented by various government studies, including recent reports by the U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board (1992, 1996) and the comprehensive review of federal affirmative action programs conducted by the Clinton administration (Stephanopoulos & Edley, 1995). The question of how we can most effectively deal with the pernicious consequences of