Thematic Message Of A Poem - 1878 Words

The Written Product Thematic Message The Thematic Message of a poem is its â€Å"deeper/underlying meaning† and the Theme is â€Å"the subject of discussion†. The poem opens up with an intriguing title known as â€Å"Unspoken Hostility†. Looking in to this, it is seen that the title may refer to some sort of non-verbal conflict occurring. Stanza 1, Line 1, tells the reader that the persona is in a bus, and is feeling lonely. Line 2, simply, states that they sit down. Looking at Lines 3 – 4, the persona looks out the window and stares at the winter climate, and then, looks at the floor beneath their feet. Stanza 1, Line 5, tells the reader that they see 4 black Jube Jubes, and in the next line, states that they are squished. Looking at Stanza 2, a lady is brought up within the first line. This woman scans the bus and finds the empty seat next to the persona. Moving to Line 6, it is said that the newly introduced character is hesitant to sit next to the narrator, however, does anyways. In Stanza 2, Lines 9 – 10, and Stanza 3, Lines 1 – 2, the lady takes her gloves off and the protagonist perceives her hands as pale as the bitter winter. Looking at the terms â€Å"bitter† and â€Å"cold†, it is seen that the persona doesn’t appreciate the colour white. Stanza 3, Lines 3 – 4, allow the persona to speak of their hands being the earthy tones of spring. In these lines, it is seen that the persona described themselves with positive terms. At this point of time, the reader knows that this poem refers toShow MoreRelatedCity Lights847 Words   |  4 PagesNatalie Dougherty ENGL 102-013 Dr. Leitch Feb. 18, 2009 Thematic Meaning in City Lights In order for art to be successful, despite the category of its expression, one thing is necessary; a connection between the piece and its audience that can transcend time and space. If a song, film, poem, novel, play or painting possesses the ability to touch audiences of any era or culture, then it is truly successful. Notable movements of artwork are associated with the time in which they were producedRead MorePablo Nerudas Use of Nature1553 Words   |  7 Pageshuman constructs and limitations, and illuminates a valuable reality in the world. When considering Pablo Neruda’s body of work, a clear thematic focus on nature is visible. Many of his poems reference the natural, untouched world. This is a thematic juxtaposition to the over-structured, artificial nature of human culture. Using nature symbolically within these poems allows for a clear distinction to be drawn between the real and the artificial, and speaks to the flaws that Neruda sees within societyRead MoreAnaly sis Of After Apple Picking By Robert Frost1381 Words   |  6 Pagesearly work by Robert Frost. The poem portrays the hypnagogia of sleep by describing the fleeting moments before the speaker falls into deep slumber. The poem is written in the first-person point of view and is most likely a depiction of Frost himself. Frost wrote this poem when he was around forty to fifty years old. In the twentieth century, he would have been considered to be close to the end of his life and this could have been his initial inspiration for the poem. Allusions to winter and frostRead MoreThe Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Essay1554 Words   |  7 Pagesis abandoning (Lee 5). The narrator refers to â€Å"individualism† as the major theme of the poem because the traveler is alone and has to make a difficult decision on his own. Frost also said that the tension in the poem is based on the traveler’s interaction with nature. He has a sense of wonder at the beauty of the natural world as he is searching for his own place within nature’s involvement. The title of the poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† assures autonomy of choice. Most readers fail to understand thisRead MoreComparing The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck and To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee1327 Words   |  6 Pagesbehavior. In addition to both novels, â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† share the same concurrent theme. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath and â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† illustrate a synonymous, thematic message that evil’s inhumanity, during corrupt times, induces a perception of hopefulness for good to conquer immorality. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, communicates a central idea that society has good and bad qualities by using anRead MoreThe Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck and To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee1413 Words   |  6 Pagesbehavior. In addition to both novels, â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† share the same concurrent theme. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath and â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† illustrate a synonymous, thematic message that evil’s inhumanity, during corrupt times, induces a perception of hopefulness for good to conquer immorality. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, communicates a central idea that society has good and bad qualities by using anRead MoreThematic Message: Good vs. Evil1546 Words   |  7 Pagesbehavior. In addition to both novels, â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† share the same concurrent theme. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath and â€Å"Suffering with Them†, â€Å"Evil’s Fate†, and â€Å"To Hope† illustrate a synonymous, thematic message that evil’s inhumanity, during corrupt times, induces a perception of hopefulness for good to conquer immorality. Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, communicates a central idea that society has good and bad qualities by using anRead More Comparing and Contrasting Hughess Mother to Son and Wilburs The Writer1104 Words   |  5 PagesLangston Hughess poem Mother to Son and in Richard Wilburs poem The Writer, the poets use the voice of a parent considering a childs future, and both use imagery of struggle and survival to suggest what lies ahead for the child. Although the point of view, context, and language of the two poems differ significantly, the message is the same: a parent wants a good life for his or her child, but knows that many obstacles can block the way. While Hughes and Wilbur share a similar message in their poemsRead MoreCommentary on the Bat by Roethke816 Words   |  4 Pages Theodore Roethke’s poem ‘The Bat’ clearly focuses on the animal the bat and effectively conveys through the latter an important message to the reader. One could interpret this poem in various ways; however a prominent theme would be that every being on earth has a ‘dark side’ which is often overlooked. The speaker’s tone in the poem varies and seems to have two very distinct sections; at the beginning it is light, playful and appreciative of the animal, however as the poem progresses one can senseRead MoreMutual Forbearance Poem Analysis1419 Words   |  6 Pagesand artistic impression on the reader, usually the object of the poet’s desires. Yet, William Cowper’s poem Mutual Forbearance – Necessary to the Happiness of the Married State Cowper twists the expectations of marriage to something more unstable, more simulated, offering his own personal frustrations through a loose lyrical structure. And it is this poem that will be the focus of my essay. The poem begins by describing the actions of the lady [addressing] her spouse, which provides an indication

Study On Introductory Finance And Market Portfolio Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1629 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Having selected two stocks, LLOY.L and BARC.L, from the FTSE100 Index and downloaded the daily prices, spanning the period January 2008 December 2010, it is now time to calculate the daily returns and the average returns. The daily returns are calculated by subtracting from the closing share price of the following day the closing share price of the prior day, all divided by the closing share price of the prior day. The daily return of stocks represents the changing of the value of the stock in a short term point of view, so the value in percentage that could be obtained by trading the stock in different days at the midquote(closing) price. This paper doesnt take into account dividend in the return equation for simplicity. The average returns are the sum between the daily returns of each stock divided by the number of days: LLOY.L -0,09% and BARC.L 0,05%. As it is an average of the sum of the daily returns, the average return of a stock is like a summary value in a long term point of view. In order to calculate the variance, which is the measure of the variability of measured data from the average value of the set of data , we use the excel prepared formula =VAR and the results are LLOY.L 0,00329681532 and BARC.L 0,00298971628. Variance is also the measure of dispersion of a set of data points around their mean value. The standard deviation of the two stocks is calculated by the prepared formula of excel =DEV.ST or just by calculating the radical square of the variance , LLOY.L 0,05741790071952 and BARC.L 0,054678298027727 and it represents the variability of a distribution. The value which represents the correlation between two variables is the covariance of the two stocks which is 0,00197867681213. Having constructed a portfolio which consists of 50% in each stock it is now time to calculate its return and standard deviation which respectively are -0,00018953911968 and 0,05060604020891: in order to calculate the standard dev iation we have to calculate the variance as the standard deviation is the radical square of the variance. The table below shows a set of portfolios of the two stocks with different weights. It is mainly important to notice two factors: the returns and the variance. As the average return of LLOY.L is negative, a rational investor would choose to invest only in BARC.L in order to get a positive return; accordingly to the data of the variance it is significant to notice that it has high values in the extremes of the composition of the weights of the portfolio. High values of variances mean high values of risk. Actually, if an investor does not reduce the exposure to risk by diversification of his portfolio with different assets the risk of losses is higher. The risk is higher because with diversification the investor is able to reduce the specific risk of the firm and will be subjected only to the general market risk. The graph below summarizes a portfolio with different weights of assets. The outcome is what is called the efficient frontier (the upper part) and so the graph shows the correlation between returns and risk (standard deviations). The previous explanation meant to mark the difference between what appears to be the best choice for an investor and so the highest return and what is really the best choice, which is maximizing the utility of the investor by minimizing his exposure to risk. The minimum exposure to risk is calculated by minimizing the variance and by calculating the exact weights of the assets in the portfolio. This paper has used the excel prepared function solver to get the minimum variance in the portfolio made with those two different stocks. The minimum variance is 0,25% with weights of 43% LLOY.L and 57% BARC.L as highlighted. In order to achieve a portfolio yielding a return of 25% the weight of each stock should be equal to: LLOY.L -17536% and BARC.L 17636%. This result has been obtained by using the excel function solve r and it mirrors the fact that an investor should sell LLOYD.L assets (-17536%) and buy BARC.L assets (17636%) in order to achieve a return of 25%. Question (b): It is now time to define what a Market Portfolio is. This paper intends to begin describing the market with risky assets and then deals with a portfolio with risk free assets in order to scrutinize the main differences, because it is just in the composition between these two different set of portfolios that there is the market portfolio. Before dealing particularly with the market portfolio it is important to analyze the officials acting in the financial environment, investors in particular. There are two kinds of investors: risk averse and risk takers. If we consider risk as a measure of uncertainty about both the development of the market and the success of our investment, risk averse investors are those officials who prefer to invest in low risk assets even though they will not achieve a high income. Risk takers in stead are those investors whose aim is to bet on the market development and invest in a more risky way in order to get better returns. The main objective of the description of these officials it is to describe the combination of assets of their portfolios. Risk takers invest on assets which have a high degree of dispersion (the variance and so the standard deviation) in the final income. There is a high chance that the final outcome will not be equal to the expected return. An efficient portfolio for risk takers is made by maximizing the expected returns for a given amount of risk or minimizing risk when the expected return is given. Risk averse investors will invest in assets with a low or almost nonexistent level of risk, even though the expected return is not high. Efficient portfolios are shown in the efficient frontier, which is a curve showing optimal portfolios made by assets of different degrees of risk. The efficient frontier offers the highest return for any level of risk and it is constructed by combining mean and standard deviation, so return and risk. In the graph below the efficient frontier is just AB because for every level of risk (variance) we can get higher expected return in AB instead of in AC: this represents efficiency in the selection of assets for a portfolio. Having analyzed the portfolio made of risky assets it is now time to describe the contrast to a portfolio of risk free assets. A portfolio of risk free assets reduces its risk to zero. The expected return turns into realized return (Expected(R) = Realized(R)). Government bonds are usually the closest example of risk free assets. The most visible change is that the efficient frontier becomes a straight line. This straight line is called capital market line and its equation is E(Rp)=Rf+[(E(Rm)-Rf)/ÃÆ' Ãƒâ€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢m]xÃÆ' Ãƒâ€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢p. The expected return on a portfolio depending on a risk free rate of return suffers less risk because the variance of the portfolio is smaller, as the variance of the risk free assets and the covariance are equal to zero. The main advantage given by risk free assets is that investors can borrow or lend any amount of money at the risk free rate of return depending on the weight they have, as the graph below shows. It is important to pay attention to both the risk component and the risk free one in order to find out the Market Portfolio (M, in the graph below) as it is just the tangent point between the efficient frontier and the capital market line. The CML is the line used in the capital asset pricing model to illustrate the rates of return for  efficient portfolios depending on the risk-free rate of return and the level of risk (standard  deviation)  for a particular portfolio. Markowitz introduced a new goal for investors, which is to maximize their utility. The utility is maximized in the market portfolio, which is the equalization between the efficient frontier and the capital market line. The utility is approximately calculated as the expected return minus the variance of return, which is multiplied to a risk averse variable. If an investor wants to achieve the best utility from the combination between assets of his portfolio, he will try to minimize the variance in order to maximize the expected return. The Market Portfolio is where every investors will want to invest. Actually this portfolio must include all risky assets and as the market is in equilibrium all assets are included in their market value. Since the Market Portfolio contains all risky assets, it is a completely diversified portfolio, which means that all the unique risk of individual assets (unsystematic risk) is diversified away. In the presence of capital markets, rational risk averse investors select efficient portfolios that lie in the CML with the highest expected Sharpe ratio (risk premium/standard deviation) which means with the highest expected return and the lowest degree of risk. Th e concept of Market Portfolio is strictly related to the concept of the Separation Theorem. James Tobin explained in the Separation Theorem that if an investor holds risky assets and he is able to borrow (buying stocks on margin) or lend (buying risk free assets) at the same rate, then the efficient frontier is a single portfolio of risky assets plus borrowing and lending. Tobins Separation Theorem says an investor can separate the problem into first finding that optimal combination of risky assets and so the tangency point (Market Portfolio) and then deciding whether to lend or borrow, depending on his attitude toward risk. If there is only one portfolio plus borrowing and lending, it is got to be the market. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On Introductory Finance And Market Portfolio Finance Essay" essay for you Create order

A Brief Analysis of Reverse Discrimination Free Essays

Racial discrimination is defined as unfavorable treatment, or having fine judgement or taste against a distinct race or minority. It is an epidemic that has been occurring for hundreds of years. Throughout different time periods people have been discerning others because of physical characteristics uncommon to each other. We will write a custom essay sample on A Brief Analysis of Reverse Discrimination or any similar topic only for you Order Now In 1607, English colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, became the first Americans to bring African slaves to the New World thus beginning hundreds of years of discrimination. There have been many improvements in the area of racial discrimination through laws and personal views, but racism still exists, and probably will for many years to come. In the workplace racial discrimination is so prevalent that there is one whole title in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically dedicated to quelling this issue. The problem today is deciding where to draw the fine line between racial discrimination and making a choice for the better of your business, and when that line is crossed. But racial discrimination effects people other than those being directly discriminated. By definition, racial discrimination is due to a bias against minorities. But there is another form of discrimination – that of reverse discrimination. In this case it isn’t the minority that is being discriminated against, it is the white man. Obviously both forms of biased views are, in simplest form, still discrimination, but reverse discrimination is sometimes not thought of as a serious problem and is an issue that must be addressed. Civil Rights legislature has made major strides in establishing equal rights in the work place but as minorities gain civil rights the issue of reverse discrimination becomes a problem. Before we can take a look at reverse discrimination, we must first look at the laws that establish our basic civil rights. There are two main pieces of legislature that frame these basic civil rights. They are the Fourteenth Amendment of the constitution and the C! The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, and is one of the most important legal weaponS in Black America’s struggle for equality (Davis, 11). Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment declares that † No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws† (Bagley A-6). The basic meaning of the amendment is that people are equally entitled to fundamental rights (Schwartz, 100). Its intention was for the individual to possess basic civil rights and to describe how he is affected by basic agencies of the states. In theory the â€Å"people† of the United States were now whites and minorities, and everyone should enjoy freedom equally (101). The Fourteenth amendment did have its shortcomings though. The way it was designed, lent itself to work on a state level rather than a federal level (Loevy 7). This meant that the federal government didn’t have as much power as the individual states in enforcing the law and therefore allowed for discrimination by private citizens. There was the notion of a â€Å"free white jury that will never convict† (8). White southerners knew that a jury of their peers would never convict them for crimes such as murder, lynching, and blatant discrimination. It became routine that whites had their free will to personally enforce racial segregation. The first landmark case in the fight for racial integration and equality was Plessy v. Ferguson. In this case a railroad attendant refused to provide a sleeping car for an African American. It went to court under the fourteenth amendment and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that segregation of blacks and whites was constitutionally legitimate as long as the accommodations for each were equal. Separate but Equal† was now precedent and the fight for equality had won its first battle. This verdict soon came into question though when the notion of racial segregation in public schools was taken to court. Brown v. Board of education was probably one of the biggest landmark decisions in the fight for equal rights. The Supreme Court ruled that â€Å"separate but equal† was by definition – unequal. The court stated that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and also implied that all forms of segregation were illegal (Loevy 17). Although this decision implied that segregation was illegal it did little to enforce the idea. There was still an opposition to integration that held the equal rights movement back. It was seen that there was a need for firm legislation that would not only lay down terms for equal rights but be able to enforce them too. From 1866 to 1965 there were six Civil Rights Acts passed through congress. By far the most far-reaching Act was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . It consisted of eleven titles and of those eleven; there was one that directly impacted discrimination in the workplace. Forty percent of all median income differences between black and white workers is the result of employment and occupation discrimination (Bell 717). Title VII forbids discrimination by employers (Karst 284) and makes it unlawful to even ask a prospective employee any information about race, color, gender, religion, or national origin (Zigarelli 2). The agency that enforces Title VII is the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Since the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII has been the source of more litigation than any other titles in the act (Karst 285). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was indeed firm legislation that did in fact protect the civil rights of Americans, but with the legislative laws of the act also came a host of Common Laws. When a judge makes a decision in court, that decision is said to create a precedent. If a similar case comes to court the precedent will be what is followed when making that decision, and the precedent, although not a legislated law, becomes in affect, a law – or Common Law (Zigarelli 11). Now the citizens of the United States had a strong backing to achieve racial equality. But what happens when the system that is in place to provide these rights actually does the opposite and allows for discrimination of another group other than the minority. Reverse discrimination in the workplace is defined as preferential treatment for minority group members in that workplace (Goldman 4). It can be either giving special treatment in considering an applicant for employment or in considering an employee for promotion or termination. Some of the ways that reverse discrimination is introduced is by the use of quotas, percentages, and set-asides. In an effort to speed up the process of racial integration in our society, the government put forth these certain employment policies. Quotas and percentages are held to encourage minority hiring while also keeping with the existing workplace standards (Goldman 22). The idea is that if the percentage of minority employees working at an establishment is radically lower than the percentage of non-minority employees it is probably because of past discrimination. A quota is established to raise these numbers and create a racially equal working environment. In its basic form a quota is intended to be a goal the company wishes to achieve to be more of an equal opportunity employer. The problem that arises with this type of policy is that it becomes very easy to instead of hiring minority workers based on their competence and skill level, just say â€Å"The next certain n! umber of minorities that apply for the job I’ll hire regardless of how skilled they are or how skilled their non-minority competition is. † It becomes a case of white man applying for a job, and his race, not his credentials being the reason for not hiring him (Baer 135); therefore loosing the job to a less qualified minority simply because the company wanted to correct for its past discrimination practices. In January 1972 the NAACP sued the Alabama state police because they had one of the least racially integrated police organizations in the country. The court ordered them to integrate their organization by hiring one African American police man for every white one until they possessed a 25 percent minority work-force (Urofsky 19). Court orders were followed and twelve years later the Alabama state police had one of the most integrated police forces in the south. Obviously the policy worked in integrating their organization but what would happen if a more qualified white man applied for the job and was rejected only because he was white? Is there any difference between the discrimination of African Americans and the discrimination of whites simply because an organization is trying to erase past prejudices? There is a belief that compensation should be made for wrongs done and that there is a need to improve the economic status of minorities, but by making special treatment for some, it is inevitable that others are discriminated against (Fullinwider 2-5). The only thing that is accomplished by these reverse discrimination practices is that the injustice is merely shifted from one group to another (Urofsky 30) rather than working on a solution to abolish it . Alan Goldman, author of Justice and Reverse Discrimination states that strict quotas for raising the percentages of blacks will, unless carefully controlled, result in the decrease of competency standards (22). The reason for this decrease, is that the employer can much more easily resort to hiring less qualified minority workers than properly screening the competency of all people that apply, thus lowering that standard. Quotas also have another drawback. While minorities have long been discriminated against as groups, the process of installing a quota discriminates against non-minorities as individuals (Urofsky 29). Most people believe that African Americans as a group do deserve some sort of compensatory treatment for past prejudices against them (Fullinwider 58). But preferential hiring does not accomplish this. It only benefits individuals and does nothing to further the racial acceptance of that group. The concept of Equal Opportunity in America creates another problem with preferential hiring. As plainly as it can be stated, Equal Opportunity, is a concept that should lend opportunities to all races equally. But since the conception of quotas and preferential hiring, Equal Opportunity has taken on a somewhat different meaning. It now seems to mean; instead of an equal opportunity for all, if one is a minority he will sometimes receive better treatment than a non-minority. Robert Fullinwider in his book The Reverse Discrimination Controversy goes so far to state that preferential hiring is unconstitutional because it violates the â€Å"principle of equal opportunity† (23). Now certainly there is no â€Å"principle of equal opportunity† in the constitution itself, but Fullinwider puts forth the idea that equal opportunity is analogous to the constitutional right of a fair trial or even of free speech. When thought of this way it is easy to contend that there is in fact a â€Å"princi! ple of equal opportunity† that is somewhat similar to a constitutional right. In a simpler form it can be stated that preferential treatment to minorities can be considered if not unjust, at least unfair because it allows minorities to achieve less, and still be just as competitive as non-minorities (Fullinwider 21). It is interesting to note that while Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the main piece of legislature that frames our civil rights, it is also the main framework for allowing reverse discrimination. Section 706(g) essentially gives the court power to order preferential treatment if the accused employer â€Å"has intentionally engaged in an unlawful employment practice charged in the complaint. † The statement: â€Å"which may include but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees †¦ or any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate,† is basically the court’s right to impose any type of preferential treatment it sees as being necessary. It becomes more confusing to note that section 703(a) and (j) seem to give an opposite opinion of preferential hiring. 703(j) even goes so far as to state the following: Nothing contained in this title shall be interpreted to require any employer †¦ to grant preferential treatment to any individual or any group (Fullinwider 125). It seems to be an odd complement of ideas to be put together in the same Title. On one hand you have a part of the Title that states that the decision is up to the judgement of the court and on the other hand you have another section that states that it is actually not up to the court to decide – it is simply wrong. Fullinwider gives an explanation for this. He states that the two different sections can be thought of as two different rules that will be interpreted differently. Depending on the situation the court is given the power to propagate whatever remedy will work best. All the previously mentioned terms such as preferential hiring, quotas, and set asides are all part of a whole known as Affirmative Action. This plan undertaken by Lyndon B. Johnson as an extension of Kennedy’s civil rights campaign was a series of steps made to overcome the present effects of past discrimination (â€Å"Affirmative Action† 241). Although the plan accomplished great strides for minorities it also gave rise to the issue of Reverse Discrimination. And while it did advance minorities it left behind one major idea. The whole concept of discrimination comes not directly from the fact that minorities are held back physically or economically in society. It comes from the idea that we live in a race-conscious society where minorities are sometimes thought of as being a part of a lower economic standard. Critics of Affirmative Action do not see it as being a way for minorities to become more equal in society because with Affirmative Action comes the unending belief th! at ultimately, there is such a thing as race. If we are to overcome racism we must first learn that there is no such thing as race – there are only people. Affirmative Action is therefore thought of as simply another way for America to become an even more race-conscious society, thus keeping minorities from progressing. A good way to further understand the intricacies of Reverse discrimination is to look at specific cases where the policies of preferential hiring, quotas, set asides were put to the test. The first case will explore the rights of a man who was working for ten years and finally had to sue his employer to get a promotion. His name is Joseph Ray Terry and he has been a civil rights attorney at the EEOC for more than ten years. It has been said that workers should roughly be represented proportionally with their numbers in the general population but fifty percent of the white-collar jobs at the EEOC are held by blacks, who make up less than ten percent of the civilian workforce. Terry decided to sue and in 1996, the U. S. district judge of Memphis Jon McCalla ruled that the EEOC violated the laws that it was supposed to defend. Over his career, Terry was overlooked for a promotion more than ten times, and the jobs were given to less qualified minorities. In 1987, the EEOC ha! d 21 district directors; 19 minority, and 2 white. Terry had the credentials; education, experience and high-level government training but he still didn’t get the job. One minority who was appointed over him didn’t even have a high school diploma and most of the minorities appointed over him had little, if any of the qualifications that he had. The judge ordered the EEOC to pay $150,000 in damages, $8,000 in stress, and ordered him to be given the position of deputy general counsel, and entitled him to back pay. In this case it can clearly be seen that quotas and preferential hiring, while advancing many minorities, did hold back a perfectly capable white man from a promotion he deserved. The next similar example is of a female denied a position because of a less qualified minority. Patricia Steffes, a forty-six year old white female was awarded 2. 6 million dollars by federal jury on Wednesday May 6th, 1999. In this reverse discrimination case she was denied a management position in favor of a less qualified black man. Pepsi claims she lacked sales in front line management experience. Steffes had worked her way up the corporate ladder from payroll clerk to a $73,000 a year management position when she applied for a higher position. She started at the age of eighteen in 1972, following in the footsteps of her father and other relatives. Steffes was promised the next promotion opportunity, which opened in Lansing, Michigan. Even though she happened to be well qualified for it, a black employee got the job. Pepsi was ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of the â€Å"Top 50 Best Places for Minorities to work† and reserved 285 million dollars of its budget for minority and women owned businesses. The recent 2. 3 billion dollar IPO was handled by a minority owned! firm. Two of the top eighteen paid employees are minorities and twenty five percent of the entire workforce is comprised of minorities while thirty six percent of their hires in 1998 were minorities according to Fortune Magazine. In Steffes case, a minority held the job initially and when the word got out that Steffes might get hired, other minority employees complained and another less qualified black male got the job. Steffes wrote a letter to the EEOC and senior executive at Pepsi with no response. She then mailed a letter to Mr. Charles Stamper, the Supervisor at Pepsi. The officials weren’t pleased so they put Steffes in their process called â€Å"developmental feedback† which is designed to improve an employees job performance. It resulted in Pepsi offering Steffes a transfer to a different facility on a â€Å"take it or leave it† basis. Steffes rejected it and took a leave of absence as advised by her doctor due to stress. She returned to work in September and supervisors allegedly ignored her. She was then ordered to train another black man who was being promoted to a job similar to the one she didn’t receive. Steffes quit that day. One can see this is a case of blatant discrimination against a perfectly qualified white female. In the next case we will finally look at the concept of the set-aside. In the case FayComm v. US Small Business Administration a set-aside – designed to leave a certain number of contracts for minority firms to claim, ultimately was the cause of lengthy court battles and FayComm’s loss of a contract they deserved. FayComm was a promising but small video production company. They had been working with FEMA for many years when a new (and expensive) contract came up to bid. FayComm bid on the job but was told that it was going to be given to a minority firm. Apparently the US Small Business Administration had taken the matter out of FEMA’s hands and given it to the minority, so FayComm sued for the right to bid fairly and competitively. The issue here is the idea of the set-aside. It is practice in some businesses to take a certain number of contracts and set them aside to give to minorities. This serves two purposes. One is to satisfy Affirmative Action supporters, and the other is to skip the time consuming process of bidding for the contracts by simply â€Å"giving† it away to the minority. The problem arises in the fact that the contract is usually given to the minority regardless of its qualifications. In one hearing on this matter the judge was quoted as saying: â€Å"You mean to tell me that if the ‘minority firm’ can demonstrate that it is not competent to do the work, and therefore cannot win the award in open, competitive bidding, then the lack of competence qualifies them to be given the contract? Apparently that’s how the idea of set-asides is written. To this day FayComm is still in business but never was given a chance to bid on the job. These cases clearly show that Reverse Discrimination is a serious issue in American Society. Through the use of preferential hiring, quotas, and set-asides the government while trying to end discrimination, only succeeded in creating more discrimination. It is obvious that there is a need for some kind of solution to stop all discrimination. Though this paper was not written to solve discrimination, only analyze it, we will offer this final thought. It became increasingly evident to us that the reason for discrimination in the first place is because humans have this preconceived notion that for some reason, all people are not equal. No matter what the Constitution states or what laws are passed this idea seems to be engrained so deeply that it is quite difficult to overcome. 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A Brief Analysis of Reverse Discrimination Free Essays

Racial discrimination is defined as unfavorable treatment, or having fine judgement or taste against a distinct race or minority. It is an epidemic that has been occurring for hundreds of years. Throughout different time periods people have been discerning others because of physical characteristics uncommon to each other. We will write a custom essay sample on A Brief Analysis of Reverse Discrimination or any similar topic only for you Order Now In 1607, English colonists in Jamestown, Virginia, became the first Americans to bring African slaves to the New World thus beginning hundreds of years of discrimination. There have been many improvements in the area of racial discrimination through laws and personal views, but racism still exists, and probably will for many years to come. In the workplace racial discrimination is so prevalent that there is one whole title in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically dedicated to quelling this issue. The problem today is deciding where to draw the fine line between racial discrimination and making a choice for the better of your business, and when that line is crossed. But racial discrimination effects people other than those being directly discriminated. By definition, racial discrimination is due to a bias against minorities. But there is another form of discrimination – that of reverse discrimination. In this case it isn’t the minority that is being discriminated against, it is the white man. Obviously both forms of biased views are, in simplest form, still discrimination, but reverse discrimination is sometimes not thought of as a serious problem and is an issue that must be addressed. Civil Rights legislature has made major strides in establishing equal rights in the work place but as minorities gain civil rights the issue of reverse discrimination becomes a problem. Before we can take a look at reverse discrimination, we must first look at the laws that establish our basic civil rights. There are two main pieces of legislature that frame these basic civil rights. They are the Fourteenth Amendment of the constitution and the C! The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, and is one of the most important legal weaponS in Black America’s struggle for equality (Davis, 11). Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment declares that † No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws† (Bagley A-6). The basic meaning of the amendment is that people are equally entitled to fundamental rights (Schwartz, 100). Its intention was for the individual to possess basic civil rights and to describe how he is affected by basic agencies of the states. In theory the â€Å"people† of the United States were now whites and minorities, and everyone should enjoy freedom equally (101). The Fourteenth amendment did have its shortcomings though. The way it was designed, lent itself to work on a state level rather than a federal level (Loevy 7). This meant that the federal government didn’t have as much power as the individual states in enforcing the law and therefore allowed for discrimination by private citizens. There was the notion of a â€Å"free white jury that will never convict† (8). White southerners knew that a jury of their peers would never convict them for crimes such as murder, lynching, and blatant discrimination. It became routine that whites had their free will to personally enforce racial segregation. The first landmark case in the fight for racial integration and equality was Plessy v. Ferguson. In this case a railroad attendant refused to provide a sleeping car for an African American. It went to court under the fourteenth amendment and the Supreme Court eventually ruled that segregation of blacks and whites was constitutionally legitimate as long as the accommodations for each were equal. Separate but Equal† was now precedent and the fight for equality had won its first battle. This verdict soon came into question though when the notion of racial segregation in public schools was taken to court. Brown v. Board of education was probably one of the biggest landmark decisions in the fight for equal rights. The Supreme Court ruled that â€Å"separate but equal† was by definition – unequal. The court stated that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and also implied that all forms of segregation were illegal (Loevy 17). Although this decision implied that segregation was illegal it did little to enforce the idea. There was still an opposition to integration that held the equal rights movement back. It was seen that there was a need for firm legislation that would not only lay down terms for equal rights but be able to enforce them too. From 1866 to 1965 there were six Civil Rights Acts passed through congress. By far the most far-reaching Act was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . It consisted of eleven titles and of those eleven; there was one that directly impacted discrimination in the workplace. Forty percent of all median income differences between black and white workers is the result of employment and occupation discrimination (Bell 717). Title VII forbids discrimination by employers (Karst 284) and makes it unlawful to even ask a prospective employee any information about race, color, gender, religion, or national origin (Zigarelli 2). The agency that enforces Title VII is the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Since the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII has been the source of more litigation than any other titles in the act (Karst 285). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was indeed firm legislation that did in fact protect the civil rights of Americans, but with the legislative laws of the act also came a host of Common Laws. When a judge makes a decision in court, that decision is said to create a precedent. If a similar case comes to court the precedent will be what is followed when making that decision, and the precedent, although not a legislated law, becomes in affect, a law – or Common Law (Zigarelli 11). Now the citizens of the United States had a strong backing to achieve racial equality. But what happens when the system that is in place to provide these rights actually does the opposite and allows for discrimination of another group other than the minority. Reverse discrimination in the workplace is defined as preferential treatment for minority group members in that workplace (Goldman 4). It can be either giving special treatment in considering an applicant for employment or in considering an employee for promotion or termination. Some of the ways that reverse discrimination is introduced is by the use of quotas, percentages, and set-asides. In an effort to speed up the process of racial integration in our society, the government put forth these certain employment policies. Quotas and percentages are held to encourage minority hiring while also keeping with the existing workplace standards (Goldman 22). The idea is that if the percentage of minority employees working at an establishment is radically lower than the percentage of non-minority employees it is probably because of past discrimination. A quota is established to raise these numbers and create a racially equal working environment. In its basic form a quota is intended to be a goal the company wishes to achieve to be more of an equal opportunity employer. The problem that arises with this type of policy is that it becomes very easy to instead of hiring minority workers based on their competence and skill level, just say â€Å"The next certain n! umber of minorities that apply for the job I’ll hire regardless of how skilled they are or how skilled their non-minority competition is. † It becomes a case of white man applying for a job, and his race, not his credentials being the reason for not hiring him (Baer 135); therefore loosing the job to a less qualified minority simply because the company wanted to correct for its past discrimination practices. In January 1972 the NAACP sued the Alabama state police because they had one of the least racially integrated police organizations in the country. The court ordered them to integrate their organization by hiring one African American police man for every white one until they possessed a 25 percent minority work-force (Urofsky 19). Court orders were followed and twelve years later the Alabama state police had one of the most integrated police forces in the south. Obviously the policy worked in integrating their organization but what would happen if a more qualified white man applied for the job and was rejected only because he was white? Is there any difference between the discrimination of African Americans and the discrimination of whites simply because an organization is trying to erase past prejudices? There is a belief that compensation should be made for wrongs done and that there is a need to improve the economic status of minorities, but by making special treatment for some, it is inevitable that others are discriminated against (Fullinwider 2-5). The only thing that is accomplished by these reverse discrimination practices is that the injustice is merely shifted from one group to another (Urofsky 30) rather than working on a solution to abolish it . Alan Goldman, author of Justice and Reverse Discrimination states that strict quotas for raising the percentages of blacks will, unless carefully controlled, result in the decrease of competency standards (22). The reason for this decrease, is that the employer can much more easily resort to hiring less qualified minority workers than properly screening the competency of all people that apply, thus lowering that standard. Quotas also have another drawback. While minorities have long been discriminated against as groups, the process of installing a quota discriminates against non-minorities as individuals (Urofsky 29). Most people believe that African Americans as a group do deserve some sort of compensatory treatment for past prejudices against them (Fullinwider 58). But preferential hiring does not accomplish this. It only benefits individuals and does nothing to further the racial acceptance of that group. The concept of Equal Opportunity in America creates another problem with preferential hiring. As plainly as it can be stated, Equal Opportunity, is a concept that should lend opportunities to all races equally. But since the conception of quotas and preferential hiring, Equal Opportunity has taken on a somewhat different meaning. It now seems to mean; instead of an equal opportunity for all, if one is a minority he will sometimes receive better treatment than a non-minority. Robert Fullinwider in his book The Reverse Discrimination Controversy goes so far to state that preferential hiring is unconstitutional because it violates the â€Å"principle of equal opportunity† (23). Now certainly there is no â€Å"principle of equal opportunity† in the constitution itself, but Fullinwider puts forth the idea that equal opportunity is analogous to the constitutional right of a fair trial or even of free speech. When thought of this way it is easy to contend that there is in fact a â€Å"princi! ple of equal opportunity† that is somewhat similar to a constitutional right. In a simpler form it can be stated that preferential treatment to minorities can be considered if not unjust, at least unfair because it allows minorities to achieve less, and still be just as competitive as non-minorities (Fullinwider 21). It is interesting to note that while Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the main piece of legislature that frames our civil rights, it is also the main framework for allowing reverse discrimination. Section 706(g) essentially gives the court power to order preferential treatment if the accused employer â€Å"has intentionally engaged in an unlawful employment practice charged in the complaint. † The statement: â€Å"which may include but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees †¦ or any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate,† is basically the court’s right to impose any type of preferential treatment it sees as being necessary. It becomes more confusing to note that section 703(a) and (j) seem to give an opposite opinion of preferential hiring. 703(j) even goes so far as to state the following: Nothing contained in this title shall be interpreted to require any employer †¦ to grant preferential treatment to any individual or any group (Fullinwider 125). It seems to be an odd complement of ideas to be put together in the same Title. On one hand you have a part of the Title that states that the decision is up to the judgement of the court and on the other hand you have another section that states that it is actually not up to the court to decide – it is simply wrong. Fullinwider gives an explanation for this. He states that the two different sections can be thought of as two different rules that will be interpreted differently. Depending on the situation the court is given the power to propagate whatever remedy will work best. All the previously mentioned terms such as preferential hiring, quotas, and set asides are all part of a whole known as Affirmative Action. This plan undertaken by Lyndon B. Johnson as an extension of Kennedy’s civil rights campaign was a series of steps made to overcome the present effects of past discrimination (â€Å"Affirmative Action† 241). Although the plan accomplished great strides for minorities it also gave rise to the issue of Reverse Discrimination. And while it did advance minorities it left behind one major idea. The whole concept of discrimination comes not directly from the fact that minorities are held back physically or economically in society. It comes from the idea that we live in a race-conscious society where minorities are sometimes thought of as being a part of a lower economic standard. Critics of Affirmative Action do not see it as being a way for minorities to become more equal in society because with Affirmative Action comes the unending belief th! at ultimately, there is such a thing as race. If we are to overcome racism we must first learn that there is no such thing as race – there are only people. Affirmative Action is therefore thought of as simply another way for America to become an even more race-conscious society, thus keeping minorities from progressing. A good way to further understand the intricacies of Reverse discrimination is to look at specific cases where the policies of preferential hiring, quotas, set asides were put to the test. The first case will explore the rights of a man who was working for ten years and finally had to sue his employer to get a promotion. His name is Joseph Ray Terry and he has been a civil rights attorney at the EEOC for more than ten years. It has been said that workers should roughly be represented proportionally with their numbers in the general population but fifty percent of the white-collar jobs at the EEOC are held by blacks, who make up less than ten percent of the civilian workforce. Terry decided to sue and in 1996, the U. S. district judge of Memphis Jon McCalla ruled that the EEOC violated the laws that it was supposed to defend. Over his career, Terry was overlooked for a promotion more than ten times, and the jobs were given to less qualified minorities. In 1987, the EEOC ha! d 21 district directors; 19 minority, and 2 white. Terry had the credentials; education, experience and high-level government training but he still didn’t get the job. One minority who was appointed over him didn’t even have a high school diploma and most of the minorities appointed over him had little, if any of the qualifications that he had. The judge ordered the EEOC to pay $150,000 in damages, $8,000 in stress, and ordered him to be given the position of deputy general counsel, and entitled him to back pay. In this case it can clearly be seen that quotas and preferential hiring, while advancing many minorities, did hold back a perfectly capable white man from a promotion he deserved. The next similar example is of a female denied a position because of a less qualified minority. Patricia Steffes, a forty-six year old white female was awarded 2. 6 million dollars by federal jury on Wednesday May 6th, 1999. In this reverse discrimination case she was denied a management position in favor of a less qualified black man. Pepsi claims she lacked sales in front line management experience. Steffes had worked her way up the corporate ladder from payroll clerk to a $73,000 a year management position when she applied for a higher position. She started at the age of eighteen in 1972, following in the footsteps of her father and other relatives. Steffes was promised the next promotion opportunity, which opened in Lansing, Michigan. Even though she happened to be well qualified for it, a black employee got the job. Pepsi was ranked by Fortune Magazine as one of the â€Å"Top 50 Best Places for Minorities to work† and reserved 285 million dollars of its budget for minority and women owned businesses. The recent 2. 3 billion dollar IPO was handled by a minority owned! firm. Two of the top eighteen paid employees are minorities and twenty five percent of the entire workforce is comprised of minorities while thirty six percent of their hires in 1998 were minorities according to Fortune Magazine. In Steffes case, a minority held the job initially and when the word got out that Steffes might get hired, other minority employees complained and another less qualified black male got the job. Steffes wrote a letter to the EEOC and senior executive at Pepsi with no response. She then mailed a letter to Mr. Charles Stamper, the Supervisor at Pepsi. The officials weren’t pleased so they put Steffes in their process called â€Å"developmental feedback† which is designed to improve an employees job performance. It resulted in Pepsi offering Steffes a transfer to a different facility on a â€Å"take it or leave it† basis. Steffes rejected it and took a leave of absence as advised by her doctor due to stress. She returned to work in September and supervisors allegedly ignored her. She was then ordered to train another black man who was being promoted to a job similar to the one she didn’t receive. Steffes quit that day. One can see this is a case of blatant discrimination against a perfectly qualified white female. In the next case we will finally look at the concept of the set-aside. In the case FayComm v. US Small Business Administration a set-aside – designed to leave a certain number of contracts for minority firms to claim, ultimately was the cause of lengthy court battles and FayComm’s loss of a contract they deserved. FayComm was a promising but small video production company. They had been working with FEMA for many years when a new (and expensive) contract came up to bid. FayComm bid on the job but was told that it was going to be given to a minority firm. Apparently the US Small Business Administration had taken the matter out of FEMA’s hands and given it to the minority, so FayComm sued for the right to bid fairly and competitively. The issue here is the idea of the set-aside. It is practice in some businesses to take a certain number of contracts and set them aside to give to minorities. This serves two purposes. One is to satisfy Affirmative Action supporters, and the other is to skip the time consuming process of bidding for the contracts by simply â€Å"giving† it away to the minority. The problem arises in the fact that the contract is usually given to the minority regardless of its qualifications. In one hearing on this matter the judge was quoted as saying: â€Å"You mean to tell me that if the ‘minority firm’ can demonstrate that it is not competent to do the work, and therefore cannot win the award in open, competitive bidding, then the lack of competence qualifies them to be given the contract? Apparently that’s how the idea of set-asides is written. To this day FayComm is still in business but never was given a chance to bid on the job. These cases clearly show that Reverse Discrimination is a serious issue in American Society. Through the use of preferential hiring, quotas, and set-asides the government while trying to end discrimination, only succeeded in creating more discrimination. It is obvious that there is a need for some kind of solution to stop all discrimination. Though this paper was not written to solve discrimination, only analyze it, we will offer this final thought. It became increasingly evident to us that the reason for discrimination in the first place is because humans have this preconceived notion that for some reason, all people are not equal. No matter what the Constitution states or what laws are passed this idea seems to be engrained so deeply that it is quite difficult to overcome. 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