Speech on Affirmative Action
SPEECH
It is indeed a pleasure to be here with you to address affirmative action, an issue of great importance to me and the organization over which I preside.
I would like to preface my remarks by briefly telling about the LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS better known as LULAC.
As the national president of LULAC, I am well aware of the historic battles waged by minorities and women for equal opportunity in this country. In its 66 year history, LULAC has been has been on the front lines of the Hispanic community's struggle against discrimination.
LULAC strongly supports equal opportunity for employment, promotion and contracting, as well as equal access to quality educational opportunities that will empower our # Corporate America
I truly believe that the "Good-Old-Boys Network" is alive and well and that in today's work place, deeply, entrenched, racial and gender bias against minorities and women still exists. Affirmative action is necessary to help level the playing field. Those who oppose affirmative action, directly or indirectly, are inviting wholesale racial and gender discrimination into the work place.
President Clinton called for a comprehensive review of the Federal Affirmative Action programs and LULAC fully supports the President. In particular, LULAC favors strengthening these programs so that they will better address the needs of the Hispanic community.
The political rhetoric against affirmative action by several presidential candidates and key Members of Congress needs to be taken very seriously. This issue is particularly sensitive at a time of corporate down sizing and major reductions in federal employment. Those fighting to defeat affirmative action are winning the war of perception in the media, newspapers, and with ordinary citizens. Their success has been largely due to the utilization of such buzz words, such as "quotas" , "preferential treatment", and "lowering standards" that have helped them define the affirmative action debate, playing on the fears of the uninformed.
We have been slow in defining affirmative action and have failed to get the public response generated by the opposition. Affirmative action merely casts a wider net to include a larger number of qualified applicants to compete and participate. Affirmative action allows women and people of color and other minorities access to higher education, jobs, and business opportunities which have been historically out of their reach. Affirmative action is a system of goals and programs that strengthens our national economy. It provides Corporate America with the diversity necessary to compete in the global market. It helps to ensure that the public sector is reflective of the populations it serves. Quotas and preferential treatment have never been a part of any affirmative action program.
Bob Dole says that equal opportunity without affirmative action should be the nation's goal. What a great concept! However, as much as we would like, we don't live in a color blind society. Discrimination is alive and well in this country.
In spite of the opportunities afforded minorities and women, we are still not the ones benefiting in the work place, on university campuses, and from public contracts-white males are. On a national level, women represent 51.2% of the adult population, African Americans represent 12.4%, and Latinos represent 9.5%. Yet in the labor market:
* 69% of all doctors are white men, 22% are white women, 4% are Black, and only 5% are Latino.
* 70% of all lawyers are white men, 24% are white women, 3% are Black, and 3% are Latino
* 80% of all architects are white men, 16% are white women, 1% are black, and 1% are Latino
* 85% of all engineers are white men, 8% are White women, 4% are Black, and 3% are Latino.
* In Texas alone, 81% of all CEOs, executives, and business managers are white, 11% are Latino, 6% are Black, while Asians and other minorities make up only 2%.
These findings are echoed in a report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington. The report shows that affirmative action programs have had "some positive effects in opening new opportunities for minorities, but that the measurable benefits in terms of wages and employment have been quite small." The report concludes, " While affirmative action can be an effective policy tool, its impact is related to the vigor with which it's enforced." In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that in 1994 whites held 88.8% of managerial and professional positions, down only slightly from 91.6% in 1983.
So where is the reverse discrimination all the "angry white men" are talking about? In a recent study published last March, the U.S. Department of Labor examined opinions handed down by U. S. District Courts and Courts of Appeals regarding employment discrimination cases between 1990 and 1994. Of the 3,000 employment discrimination opinions, fewer than 100 were reverse discrimination claims, and, of those, only 12 were found to have any merit. Professor Alfred Blumrosen, author of the analysis and a law professor at Rutgers University, wrote "many of the Cases were the result of a disappointed applicant failing to examine his or her own qualifications."
Jim Rogers of WBAP in Dallas/Fort Worth describes "the typical angry white guy" as being "fearful of the evolving global economy, concerned about affirmative action programs seen as 'reverse discrimination,' and resentful of Washington and the Federal government, for what they perceive as loss of freedom, loss of income, loss of opportunity and loss of confidence."
All of which is just a perception. The facts clearly state that women and people of color still have a long way to go to reach equality in the work place-affirmative action is not a threat to anyone.
Affirmative Action is not only the right thing to do but it is also good for our Country. We must not hesitate to take a stand and commit to educate our communities to gain their support on this important issue. Just as our forefathers fought to achieve civil rights so must we fight to retain those rights.
Thank you.