Legislations are Used to Serve Many Purposes

Legislations are used to serve many purposes, such as maintain order and to give citizens rules and regulations about how the country functions. Kenji Yoshino believes that we should not depend on legislations when the corrections can be done within the social environment itself. He calls this the “New Civil Rights”. Yoshino’s “New Civil Rights” framework can be used to resolve issues such as discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination can be solved within the workplace itself, instead of depending on laws to correct issues.

Discrimination is the act of treating someone unfavorably because of a personal trait such as race, age, religion, or sex. Inequity in the workplace is the illegal act of discriminating against an individual based on race, age, religion, or gender.

According to AAUW, “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. It generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including federal, state, and local governments.” This law’s purpose is to prevent discrimination from occurring or at least minimize the amount that happens in workplaces. Laws like these are passed for the purpose of protecting its citizens, but they do not ensure that citizens will follow these laws, because individuals will always have free will to do as they please. Avoiding and limiting inequity in work environments should start within the workplace, rather than depending on the laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to stop it from Davis 2 happening. An example of discrimination in a workplace is having a man or woman of color and a white man or woman applying for the same work position, the person of color can be overqualified for the position but instead the Caucasian individuals gets the job instead. This is an example of discrimination in the workplace because of race.

Just because there are anti-discrimination laws that does not mean discrimination but there can be a start to lower the number of complaints and cases. We can do this by encouraging workers to recognize and respect others background, managers can educate workers to change their mindsets, communicating more and respect women who work in predominantly men related workplaces. I think Yoshino’s New Civil Rights idea can help improve discrimination in workplaces, rather than turning to legislations to do the job for us. One way we can help solve discrimination is by urging workers to respect each other’s differences. In a workplace, it is important for managers and owners of businesses and companies to make it known to their employees that discrimination is not tolerated, this starts with communication. Many people are unaware that discriminating in a workplace is a crime, so when others educate them, we are already one step closer to preventing discrimination from occurring.

Coworkers should understand that everyone does not come from the same background and that judging someone based off what they look like or what skin color they are should be banned when it comes to work environments. Managers and co-workers can try to change the mindsets of others when they think that one race is superior than another, this thought can lead to discrimination. When managers are going through the hiring process, they should look at applicants as human beings instead of focusing on what race or gender the person is. Everyone should have the same equal opportunity when it comes to applying for jobs. Higher positioned Davis 3 workers often use their position as an advantage to not hire or to not give promotions to individuals because they judge them based off another factor other than their work ethic.

Even though the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is in place, which makes it illegal to discriminate in workplaces, it still occurs. I believe that it still occurs because people have the free will to say and do as they please. Therefore, I think that having laws that make it illegal to discriminate have diminished. If we can fix the issue by getting workplace employees to understand others, we would be one step closer to decreasing the amount of discrimination that occurs in workplaces. Legislations can punish individuals who discriminate but change can start in the workplace to prevent it from occurring. Instead of depending on laws to prevent this from happening, we should fix the problem before it happens, a good start could be encouraging workers to change the way they view others in workplaces. Communication can be another method we can utilize to try to put a stop to discrimination in workplaces instead of depending on the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 law.

Managers can start by creating and communicating a clear policy about discrimination in the workplace. This way employees are aware of the policy within the workplace. At staff meetings, the policy should be discussed as a reminder that discrimination is not tolerated. Managers should explain to the employees that disciplinary action will take place against anyone who discriminates against others, this allows the employees to be aware of the policy and the consequences. If an employee experiences discrimination, they should notify a supervisor immediately so action can take place. If a supervisor receives a compliant, they should respond quickly and take the compliant seriously. They should listen to complaints without judgment and have a place to hear complaints confidentially. When dealing with the person who has Davis 4 experienced the offense, supervisors should understand that the person may be upset or frustrated. They should communicate with the person and let them know that action will take place.

According to ADC, “If you are having discussions with the person who has been accused of discriminatory or harassing behaviour listen to their point of view, advise them that even if they didn’t mean to, offence has been taken make clear what and when behavior is acceptable and not acceptable.” Managers should present themselves as being approachable and understanding that way their employees will not be hesitant about communicating with them. They should build a bond with their employees that is based on trust. Although there is a law that prohibits discrimination, these solutions can be used to prevent it from occurring before turning to legislations. Another solution to preventing discrimination in workplaces is to try to respect women and treat them equally while working in men related workplaces.

According to AAUW, “Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion.” Even though this law is in place, discrimination against women still occurs. According to Pew Research Center, “About four-in-ten working women (42%) in the United States say they have faced discrimination on the job because of their gender.” I think that this occurs because when it comes to working in men related jobs, women are viewed as being weak or insubstantial. For this reason, who tend to get looked over when it comes to harder assignments. Women should be viewed just as equally as men. Another way women are discriminated in workplaces, is by receiving lesser pay than men.

According to Pew Research Center, “One of the biggest gender gaps is in the area of income: One-in-four working women (25%) say they have earned less than Davis 5 a man who was doing the same job; one-in-twenty working men (5%) say they have earned less than a female peer.” If a woman is doing the same job as a man, they should receive the same equal pay, especially if they are putting the same number of hours and work ethic as a man. Women should also receive the same equal promotion opportunities as men. These are all possible solutions to prevent discrimination against women before turning to legislations. Yoshino idea of “New Civil Rights” is structed around fix problems without the environment itself before turning to legislations. The text states, “It is work each of us must do for ourselves, and it is the most important work we can do” (Yoshino 541). When dealing with issues such as discrimination in the workplaces, there are solutions to try to prevent these situations from happening before depending on laws. On July of 1964, the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. This law made it illegal to discriminated based on gender, race, religion background, national origin, or color.

Although there is a law in place, discrimination in the workplace still occurs. I think that we can prevent discrimination or lower the number of cases by first trying to encourage coworkers and supervisors to respect each other’s differences. Communication is the start of it, and it is another way we can prevent discrimination. Women tend to get discriminated often when it comes to working in men related job environments. If individuals can start respecting women, that is another way to prevent discrimination. Even though it is a crime to discriminate it still occurs, if we try to use these methods, we can fix these issues within the workplace itself, before turning to legislations such as the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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