5
Oregon’s Law
For Economic Democracy
By Gladys Turley
Fair Employment Practices Division
Department of Labor
“ This;young woman possesses skills'
and abilities which if given an oppor
tunity will be of* great value to any
•employer but there is no opportunity
for her in thi§ town. Here, there is
such|community preiW-ic^^ ^ m ^alie^
race that even I such tasks as house
keeping ahdpother domestic" 'work' is
difficult for her to obtain. This girl
deserves -a- good job so herBgfents
won’t be wasted I I .”
This letter from the files of the fair
of the
Bureau of Labor was written by a
friendly official olfa small Oregon town
in behalf. of a higli school graduate
looking for a job. It points fup graph
ically the;~r|ptsons behind the:passage
o fth e Oregon law for tolerance in em
ployment, the Fair Employment PracF
tices Acttof 1949.
Before July 16, 1949, the date the
Oregon law became effective, mem
bers of religious and racial minority
groups in this state faced a discourag
ing and ^^mah^^c'^ ^ ^ hopeless job
future. The only job opportunity the
girl mentioned in the ie?tbr-'< abow|
could hope for were those suggested by
her high school prin£ip"ar— a maid in
a lunchroom or a waitress in a “high
class,”; restaurant — if she could find
an employer, who would hire a Negro
girb for these positions. For a. person
>with aptitude^pn^skills of high', order
and ordinary human ambition this was
bleak outlook.
Now, thanks to the/y^af^ol’d Oregon
law which forbids jbb, discrimination
on such illogical' grounds as race, re
ligion or national origin, new job op
portunities have opened up in I Jnap
sbort épq5p;pè^ year for . this girl and
member^ of her
Their right Ï6!
jobs commensurate with their skills
and intelligence is protected by state
statute and a statewide attack against
community^ prejudice through an evol
ving educational proggafn- in swinging
public opinion into line for economic
dernocr^^was well established-pbliti--
chi democracy in Oregon.
Oregon was the sixth state of the
Union to declare itip public policy that
“practices I of discrimination against
g y ||fof its inhabitants because of race,
-rég M i, color or national origin are a
matter of state concern and that;; such
dii^iinina.tion threatens not only the
rights and privileges of its inhabitants
but menaces the institutions and
foundations of dj-free^and democratic
state.”
Specifically the Oregon law forbids-
em nl^^^ato refuse to *hir,e; to dis-
pàm inate in terms of employment or
to discharge any person because of his
race or religion. Labor organizations
are forbidden to exclude o r . expel
meniW
oh:, thé same grounds;, iand
employment agencies cannot discrimi
nate in registering or referring appli-
cants for employment.
The law, further prohibits discrimi
nation O^ob-application forms and in
help»w&anted classified sections of
n e s ^ W p t> No longer -such adver-
^ ^ ^ ^ f a the following is legal in Ore
gon: “ Help Wanted, ^Eitfr/aH phrist-
ians only need- apply,” “ Chines ^ boy
wanted . f :” ^References as'to'ifâpe; ré-
ligion and nationality or I the request
for a photograph are forbidden as part
of job-application questions or de
mands. “Where I were yôûr fpg arents
born?” and “What religious holidays do
you keep?” are no longer considered