By Brittany Hutson
The topic of affirmative action has become somewhat taboo. Opponents argue that instead of moving past discussions of inequality and race, affirmative action in fact encourages discrimination in an era –depending on who you ask—that is deemed post-racial. But if you ask Shirley J. Wilcher, affirmative action is just as needed today as it was when President John Kennedy signed the policy into effect in 1961.
Wilcher, director of the American Association for Affirmative Action, a professional organization based in Washington, D.C. with 1,000 members, said in a recent interview with America’s Wire, a proponent of the Maynard Media Center of Structural Racism, that “there have been attacks on affirmative action so much that people are even afraid to use the term anymore.”
According to Wilcher, more than 90,000 employment discrimination complaints were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last year, a clear indication that affirmative action is still vital. “…the theory [is] that if a company is vigilant and it looks at its employment practices, including pay, that it will fix the problem and promote equal opportunity,” said Wilcher in the interview. “We are not talking about ‘preferences.’ We are talking about opportunities. We still need affirmative action.”
She goes on to say that in private industry, there are a lot of diversity programs. But if there is no change in the representation of women and minorities in the organization, and if opportunity to push hiring and promotions is left to the way side then “you might as well call them ‘Kumbaya programs,” said Wilcher.
In contrast, an article was published in The Arizona Republic last week calling to approve Proposition 107, which would amend the Arizona Constitution to ban affirmative-action programs in public employment, public education or public contracting. The article goes on to say that racial and gender preferences do not “create a level playing field”, but they “skew the game.”
But the policy clearly extends to a greater amount of people who face opposition, such as the disabled, members of the LGBT community, and immigrants. This is why Wilcher disagrees with proposals that say affirmative action be limited to those descended from enslaved Africans. She also disagrees that African-Americans be excluded if they are of middle or upper class.
