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Discriminatory Practices Of The Civil Rights Act

Decent Essays

In the past, discriminatory practices interfered with recruiting and hiring diverse subjects to fill employment opportunities in America. Therefore, in 1964, legislation passed the Civil Rights Act to prohibit employers from discriminating based on race, color, sex, national origin or religion. Under the law enacted, it does not matter if the discrimination is intentional or unintentionally, and the burden of proof falls upon the defending agency to prove its hiring and recruiting practices are related to job performance. For example, the Baltimore police department excluded 95% female and 32% Hispanic men because of a 5’ 7” height restriction (Gaines & Kappeler). While the Civil Rights Act protects citizens against discrimination, minorities are still not adequately represented in law enforcement. Apparently, it is because of personal preference and institutional barriers. According to Gaines and Kappeler (2015), institutional barriers is formal or informal barriers put in place to discourage minorities from applying, and personal preference refers to law enforcement being an undesirable career due to negative attitudes reflecting back on the subject in the minority community. For example, according to Gaines and Kappeler (2015), women have very little representation in small towns. This is true, I live in a rural community and there are no women in the sheriff’s department. I think this can be contributed to the recruiting and selection process. First, the sheriff’s

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