Discrimination Still a Big Problem in the American Economy

The American population is aging as health care improves, the older generation is living longer and are still working or just getting into the workplace. One of the biggest issues that these older individuals face is age discrimination within the workplace. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) of 1967 forbids employment discrimination on the basis of age. Through a detailed explanation and history of the law, this paper will examine how ADEA affects the professionals in the workplace, human resources, managers, and employers in the workplace. It will further examine how the employee is affected by ADEA. This includes what their rights are and how they can make a complaint. Lastly, a legal case will be examined and evaluated so

Eric Brene once said, “The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.” This quote is not only powerful and alarming but it too can shed some light on the situation here in America regarding discrimination. Discrimination is a plague of society that has cast a shadow over this country and has caused tension among us in the process. The question remains: is discrimination killing America? Discrimination is defined as, “treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit,” (Dictionary.com 1). This debate over whether or not discrimination is killing America is more prevalent now than ever, with the case of Ahmed Mohamed. Ahmed Mohamed was simply a 14-year-old student, who brought an invention that he worked so hard and diligently to produce into school, and ended up in prison. The reason as to why he was put in handcuffs and taken from school: a clock. A homemade clock in which he made, and brought into school to show one of his teachers, caused Ahmed to be arrested. There is heavy debate as to whether or not the clock did look a bomb, but without a shadow of a doubt, that the clock was labeled as a bomb due to Ahmed’s nationality. This raises a concern that this country is on a downwards spiral regarding

Discrimination has been a problem since the beginning of time. Discrimination is mentioned in many pieces of classical literature such as Shakespeare’s Othello. In this classical play the main character Othello is never truly accepted into the Venetian society because he is a Moor from Northern Africa. His skin color caused people to view him differently and also presented problems when he tried to find a wife. After he eventually found and married Desdemona her father Brabantio still did not approve of him; he said “She, in spite of nature, Of years, of country, credit, everything, To fall in love with what she feared to look on! It is a judgment maimed and most imperfect That will confess perfection so could err Against all rules of nature” (Act I, Scene 3). Brabantio saw this love as unnatural because he believes Desdemona would never fall in love with a black man who she was afraid to look upon. Before Othello married Desdemona Brabantio saw him as an honorable leader and great man, but after their marriage he accuses him of black magic and urges their marriage to be annulled by the Duke. This discrimination led to Othello’s doubt and self-conscience attitude which, ultimately leads to his demise at the end of the play. Discrimination continues to exist today as it did 400 years ago in Shakespeare’s time. Today people are still discriminated against and persecuted because of their race or their religious views.

Age discrimination has long been present in society due to the rapid development happening around us. According to Farney, Aday & Breault (2006), this era of ageism is defined as "discrimination against any age group", but it often is pointed to age discrimination among adults which is slowly causing a negative effect for them in the workplace. In the workplace, adults with more experience and longer history behind them are targets of this ageism belief that companies and employers tend to have (Farney, Aday, & Breault, 2006). They are shunned and even fired in favor of accepting new and fresh faces for the company they have worked for. Unknown to most companies and employers, this notion of favoring the young and banishing the old can

In the United States today discrimination is still an issue in society. As a society progress has definitely been made, but it has never fully gone away. Some of the most discriminatory action takes place in the American justice system. Young minority males between the ages of 25-29 are subject to being treated the most unfairly while whites of the same age are still being treated better than any race in this country. African American and Hispanic males are being incarcerated at higher rates than white males in America. Not only are minorities being incarcerated more, but also they are subject to harsher sentencing terms, fall victim to police racial profiling, and have disparities in the war on drugs. Also whites are still the dominant

Racism in economics is relevant to today’s society because the unfair treatment of minorities results in unnatural fluctuations of the US economy. This unfortunate reality of how extremely relevant the plague of racism is in today’s society is demonstrated by how it has interwoven itself into our economics. Although today’s economic system is saturated by racial bias and discrimination, racism itself is far from a new concept. Homosapiens have been ingraining hatred of those different to themselves, into every part of their lives, since humans broke off into different races. This paper will focus on some of the newer concepts of discrimination and bias, and how it effects

"There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion. There should be equality in our society…" (Portillo) These words are from the youngest ever Nobel prize laureate, Malala Yousafzai. (Most) individuals in the United States would agree with this statement, at least verbally. However, discrimination is a widespread phenomenon in America. For many Americans, it impacts nearly every aspect of every day of their lives, from the way they talk and dress, to how they communicate, and in what manner their employment experiences are shaped. Economic stability relies on countries’ private and public sector capabilities in providing safe and secure work environments and keeping the unemployment rate low. What happens

Racial discrimination against minorities within the American workforce is evident. Structural racism is the cause of why qualified minorities lacking opportunities, while lesser-qualified White-Americans are hired. This paper will discuss what structural racism is, how it plays into racial discrimination against qualifieded minorities, what can be done to prevent further racial profiling, and briefly touch on the adverse effects racial prejudice has on the economy.

I believe that discrimination has the greatest negative impact on equality in American society. An example of this contradictory behavior mentioned in the book was, that a slave owner was responsible for the phrase, “all men are created equal” (Koppelman, K.L., 2014). Today, sexual and racial discrimination and biases in the workplace is a regular practice for dominant groups, in an effort to secure their social hierarchy through wage disparity.

Throughout the semester this class has completely changed my version of “bias.” Coming into this class the only type of bias, I thought existed was racism, however, now I know that people can be bias to something or someone without even realizing it. At the start of the semester this assignment was extremely difficult for me because I do not consider myself a racist, nor did I think I judged people based on some element of themselves that they cannot change. After some reflection, I was able to realize that I do have a bias when it comes to the elderly. I have almost always felt awkward around elderly people, but never thought I was bias towards them. This assignment truly made me realize I do have an ageism bias.

Becker claims that Instead of making the common assumption that employers only consider the productivity levels of their employees, that workers ignore the race or gender of those that they work with, and that customers only care about the qualities of the goods themselves and the service they receive whiling buying them buy, we should widen our stance to allow these factors to play in. Studies on discrimination incorporate the influence of race, gender, and other personal characteristics on peoples tastes. Employees may refuse to work under a certain gender or race, a customer may prefer not to deal with a certain salesperson based off the color of their skin. It is only through widening of the typical economic assumptions that it will begin to be possible to understand the obstacles necessary for economics to move forward. Beckers analysis shows that sometimes the environment greatly weakens discrimination, while at other times it increases it. “When the majority is very large compared to the minority, market discrimination by the majority hardly

The Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) was passed over 40 years ago (in 1967) prohibiting the denial of employment, forced retirement, hours of employment, compensation, or termination of individuals due to the person's age, and it was meant to encourage the employment of older individuals based on their abilities and invaluable experience. However, age discrimination and ageism still permeate American society and the workplace.”(Tate)

Concern by policymakers over these types of incidents prompted Congress to enact the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in 1968, which outlawed discrimination in the workplace against workers between the ages of 40 and 65. Later amendments prohibited mandatory retirement before the age of 70 in 1978 (and then outlawed mandatory retirement altogether with a few exceptions) in 1986. During 1990, 10,485 complaints of age discrimination were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” 1 (Johnson and Neumark, pg. 779 , 1996 )

There are many types of discrimination in the workplace and age discrimination has been one of many that we all encounter in this modern society. Retirement is no longer an option to older workers. The rate of unemployed elderly workers, 40 years of age and older is high compared to the employment rate of those workers. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) together with the Title VII. Although both have numerous resemblances, they both also have different factors based on discrimination. For instance, an individual cannot be protected under Title VII for reverse discrimination meaning that the claim cannot be about a discrimination in contradiction of his or her youth (Bennett-Alexander, Hartman, 2014).

For example, the biggest challenge faced by human resources is the discrimination of age. Employees are reporting age discrimination as early as their mid thirties. By the time you reach your forties, you are considered to be rusty in some industries. Companies would typically like to hire a younger candidate who will take less pay and are more technologically advanced rather than someone who is older with more experience but seek a higher salary and long term benefits.