Our Constitution
Upon reading the statement below, write a two page essay describing your reaction to this statement. Discuss the following points:
Do our current laws really protect everyone against all forms of discrimination? For example what about those with felony prison records or illegal immigrants?
Use specific examples to explain your viewpoint. You may use personal experiences, as well as those ripped from today’s headlines.
In your opinion, should we have blanket anti-discrimination laws? Why or why not?
How does this declaration in our constitution impact Diversity in the Workplace?
Our Constitution
The Federal laws prohibit discrimination of a person based on their race, color, national origin, disability, religion, sex, and familial status. The laws against discrimination are enforced by the Department of Justice. The non-discrimination laws also cover other sectors, including education, housing, employment, lending, voting, public accommodations, and law enforcement. Despite the laws prohibiting discrimination, there is still evidence that the laws do not protect everyone against all forms of discrimination. Individuals with prison records and illegal migrants are one of the persons that face difficulties in terms of discrimination with low or no protection by the discrimination laws.
In 2016, following President Trump win, he claimed in a post-election interview that millions of so-called “criminal aliens” had filtrated the U.S. and needed to be removed or incarcerated. Then President-Elect referred to illegal migrants claiming that they are criminals and have criminal records, drug dealers, and gang members. The discrimination of undocumented migrants is not new in the United States as it goes back to the 1980s. The laws did not try to protect illegal migrants but used to define ways of discriminating against them. For instance, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) reclassified illegal migrants as deportable and curtailed their rights of due process (Abrego et al., 2017). Although efforts have been conducted by the federal government and the Department of Justice to provide various initiatives and programs that would support ex-offenders to evade discrimination, the federal laws are yet to prohibit discrimination in other sectors such as employment against individuals with felony prison records. In most cases involving employment concerning ex-offenders, the Court decisions have resulted in an employer being favored despite their discrimination of the ex-felon during the hiring process (Flake, 2015). Therefore, from the issue surrounding undocumented migrants and persons with felony prison records, it is justifiable that the current laws do not protect everyone against all forms of discrimination.
Blanket anti-discrimination laws should be enacted in every sector to ensure blanket policies which bar applicants who have criminal records to obtain employment opportunities are eliminated. The anti-discrimination laws against blanket policies are necessary to provide equal opportunity to all individuals in the society irrespective of their past. One being an ex-offender does not mean that they will offend in the future. The blanket anti-discrimination laws will ensure policies that automatically place every job applicant convicted of any offense, except for a minor traffic offense, in the category of permanent unemployment are eliminated (Moskowitz, 2013). The anti-discrimination laws against blanket policies are also necessary to give ex-convicts the opportunity for a fresh start. The laws will play a significant role in supporting the ongoing efforts of eliminating the possibility of recidivism through employment, which enhances society protection and improves the life quality of individual ex-offenders. The declaration of the blanket anti-discrimination laws in the constitution will greatly impact diversity in the workplace. The declaration will eliminate the policies that bar some employers from hiring individuals with criminal records, especially in employment sectors that most minority communities tend to depend on. For instance, most blacks tend to have minor criminal records, which in other employment circumstances, are used against them. Anti-discrimination laws will also see a hiring culture that considers employees based on their qualifications, increasing diversity in the workplace.
References
Abrego, L., Coleman, M., Martínez, D., Menjívar, C., & Slack, J. (2017). Making Immigrants into Criminals: Legal Processes of Criminalization in the Post-IIRIRA Era. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 5(3):694-715. doi: 10.1177/233150241700500308
Flake, D. (2015). When Any Sentence is a Life Sentence: Employment Discrimination Against Ex-Offenders. Washington University Law Review, 93(1). https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6174&context=law_lawreview
Moskowitz, A. (2013). Employers beware: Blanket policies which bar applicants with criminal records violate Title VII. Business & Legal Resource. Retrieved from https://hr.blr.com/whitepapers/Staffing-Training/Background-Checks/Employers-beware-Blanket-policies-which-bar-applic
