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Page A4
October 19. 2005
Opinion articles do not
necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
O
pinion
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Discrimination at Work
Another obstacle on the path of equality
by
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J udge G reg M athis
A large number of American
companies boast about their com
mitment to employing a diverse la
bor force. However, a recent poll
shows more than 30-percent of
A frican-A m erican w hite-collar
workers knows someone who has
been a victim of workplace racial
discrimination ; less than 20-percent
of white workerscould say the same.
While workplace diversity has
vastly improved over the last sev
eral decades, it’s clear that more
work needs to be done and more
resources utilized in the fight to
eliminate it.
The recent restructuri ng of the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission stands to negatively
affect the way the organization
deals with workplace discrimina
tion complaints, hindering the en
during struggle for equal opportu
nity.
The EEOC is a federal agency,
charged with enforcing Title VII of
the U.S. Civil Rights Act, which
prohibits discrimination on the ba
sis of race, nationality, religion or
gender. The Commission also en
forces other laws and statutes, in
cluding the Equal Pay Act of 1963,
which prohibits sex-based pay dis
crimination and the Age Discrimi
nation in Employment Act of 1967,
which protects workers 40 or older.
Despite the continued need to
guarantee these laws are enforced,
the EEOC has bee reorganized:
seven of the Com m ission’s eight
district offices will be converted to
field offices and one district office
will become an area office. Those
whodisagree with the new arrange
ment say the changes will result in
delays and poor service and that
local cases will not receive the at
tention they deserve.
The EEOC had trouble keeping
up with its caseload before the
bias out of the workplace, puts yet
another obstacle on the path to true
racial equality.
If you feel you have been a vic
tim of workplace discrimination,
you can file a claim - by mail or in
person - at the nearest EEOC office.
ou’H need to provide your personal
information, contact information for
your employer, along with a de
scription of the alleged discrimina
tion. Don’t delay in contacting the
EEOC: acharge must be filed within
We cannot let budget cuts
and restructuring deny
justice and hinder progress.
changes. In 1998, the Commission 180 days from the date of the al
had a backlog of nearly 65,000 leged violation. If, at any tim e dur
cases; the number was reduced to ing the p ro c e s s you feel the
about 40,000 in 2000 -still too high EEOC doesn’t offer quality ser
a figure. A report released last year vice, let it be know n - contact the
revealed only 43-percent of inves national EEOC office and your
tigations by federal agencies was local legislators and vocalize your
frustrations. The same is true if
completed on time.
For the last several decades, y o u ’ve already fi led a com plaint.
corporations big and small have W e cannot let budget cuts and
made a concerted effort to recruit restructuring deny ju stic e and
and retain a workforce that accu hinder progress.
Judge Greg Mathis is Chair
rately reflects American society.
Nevertheless, workplace discrimi man o f the Rainbow PUSH-Excel
nation is a reality that endures. To Board and a National Board Mem
restructure and, in effect, weaken ber ofthe Southern Christian Lead
the agency responsible for keeping ership Conference.
ite
America’s Progressive Ideals
Movement tied to women’s, minority rights
women’s suffrage and the forma
The term progressive is widely tion of the NAACP.
Progressives in the 21st cen
used by contemporary writers, poli
ticians, and liberals, but an under tury continue in this tradition of
standing of what makes up a pro dem ocracy building and open
gressive agenda is generally un transparency o f corporate and
political power. Progressive val
known.
Many people have a vague sense ues are rooted in the A merican
that progressives are left-of-center traditions of equality, fairness,
folks mostly concerned with soci due process, and dem ocratic de
etal fairness and governmental cision making at the deepest level
transparency. This notion is rooted possible. Progressives recognize
in the Progressive movement that that in stitu tio n al pow er, both
occurred in the U. S. between 1900 public and private, has created
by
P eter P hillips
im p riso n m en t for n o n -v io len t
crimes.
Progressives encourage socio
economic and political systems that
maximize individual participation,
self-actualization, loving interper
sonal relationships and healthy
environments. They are a diversi
fied bunch who come from all politi
cal parties with a full range of hu
man characteristics.
More importantly, progressives
seek personal life styles that reflect
theircore values. Simplicity ishighly
valued through a
life of slower pace,
natural foods, sus
tainable consump
tion, efficient living
spaces, and a daily
consciousness of
striving for human
betterment through
social action.
Social action based on progres
sive values is possible locally, re
gionally, nationally and internation
al ly. It is action emerging from i nter-
nalized values that lead people to
self-actualization and fair liveli
hood. One step at a time can lead us
to a progressive future.
Imagine a society with region
ally su sta in a b le e c o n o m ie s,
crimelessness, and general equal
ity. Such a life is possible, not just
for us but for the world.
Progressives believe in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Bill of
Rights, open access to corporate and
governmental information, democratic
media and individual human freedom.
The Joys Of Your Heart Live In Your Home
and 1914. According to Richard
Hofstadfer in his book "The Pro
gressive Movement,” 100 years
ago our grandparents and great
grandparents faced the accumu
lated evils of political bosses, bank
ing trusts, railroad greed and over
charging, unjust taxation, million
aire senators, yellow-dog journal
ism and cities filled with pollution
and tenements.
A nationwide multi-party politi
cal movement of mostly middle
class working people emerged that
sought political reform, increased
governmental regulation.city sani
tation, and objective media. The
movement was closely tied into
inequalities o f race, class and
gender, and that dem ocratic gov
ernm ental regulation is needed to
m ake necessary social ju stice
corrections for hum anity w orld
wide.
P rogressives believe in the
U niversal D eclaration of Human
Rights, the Bill o f Rights, open
access to corporate and govern
mental inform ation, dem ocratic
media and individual human free
dom. Progressives believe that
human freedom includes the free
dom from hunger, hom elessness,
unem ploym ent, environm ental
pollution, discrim ination based
on physical attributes and long
Peter Phillips is a professor o f
Sociology at Sonoma State Uni
versity and director o f Project
Censored, a media research group
at www.projectcensored. org.
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poor proroenon under nne roo/ '
New B eginning
Throughout the fearsome drama played by Hurri
cane Katrina and the subsequent enraged Rita; then
the seeming abandonment of the suffering citizens by
an indifferent and incompetent Federal Emergency
Management Agency, we Americans - indeed the
whole world - have been witness to the entire spec
trum of human emotions.
We have seen and heard stores of great courage,
great endurance, despair, hope reborn, anguish, fear
and anger — and we have seen mostly black Ameri
cans as never before.
Now the healing has begun. The Bush Administra
tion, grossly inept when the emergency was at its
zenith, is now running hard to make up for its failure
at the beginning of the crisis.
Now America — and again the world - is seeing
those of exceptional courage and spiritual strength,
who endured and survived the traumas of the hurri
canes, remake their lives and reconnect with loved
ones.
White Americans have seen and heard black
Americans as never before. May it be a new beginning
of greater understanding and concord between the
races.
Heroes have emerged. Mayor Ray Nagin, though
criticized by some, is passionate, articulate and char
ismatic. Thank God for Ray Nagin. May he have a long
and distinguished service in government.
June Potter Acosta
Southwest Portland