SUNY Fredonia - Affirmative Action Office

History of Affirmative Action

The origins of affirmative action are intricately linked to discrimination in the United States.

The following is a brief outline of this history:

1940s: President Roosevelt signed an order making discrimination illegal in defense contracting.

1954: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that "separate

but equal" facilities on the basis of race were unconstitutionally discriminatory.

Act of 1964: Congress passed the Civil Rights prohibiting discrimination based on race,

sex, national origin and religion in employment and education.

1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed an executive order requiring federal contractors

to undertake affirmative action to increase the number of minorities they employed.

1969: Department of Labor hearings exposed continued widespread racial discrimination

in the construction agency. In response, President Richard Nixon developed the concept

of using "goals and timetables" to measure the progress federal construction companies

were making in increasing the number of minorities on their payrolls.

1970: President Nixon extended the use of goals and timetables to all federal contractors.

1974: President Nixon declared that affirmative action programs should also include women.

1978: The U.S. Supreme Court held in Regents of California vs. Bakke that universities may
take race into consideration as a factor in admissions when seeking to accomplish diversity
in the student body. The court in Bakke also held that quotas cannot be used in voluntary
affirmative action programs in admissions unless absolutely necessary.

1989: The U.S. Supreme Court held in City of Richmond vs. Croson that the standard to be
used in evaluating affirmative action programs in contracting was one of "strict scrutiny."

1990: In 1990 Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability in places of public accommodations.

1995: On June 12, 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pepa
that the strict judicial scrutiny standard articulated in the Croson case also applied to affirmative
action programs mandated by Congress as well as those undertaken by government agencies.

1995: On July 20, 1995, the University of California Regents voted to remove consideration of
race, ethnicity, religion, gender, color or national origin in admissions, contracting and hiring.

1995: In August of 1995 Governor Pete Wilson filed suit against many state agencies and
commissions which he oversees and against minority and women professional and civil rights
groups challenging affirmative action programs in the state of California.

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The following is an abbreviated history of sexual harassment decisions:

1964 Civil Rights Act - broadened the employment discrimination section, Title VII,

to cover sex discrimination

1972 Education Act Amendments - prohibiting sex discrimination at schools and universities
that receive any federal funding

1976 - Williams v. Saxbe - conditions of employment applied differently to men and

women were forbidden under Title VII as sex discrimination

1977 - First charge of sexual harassment of students brought under Title IX of the 1972 Education
Act Amendments

1980 - EEOC Guidelines on Discrimination Because of Sex were formalized and became

official

1982, 1983 - Two federal circuit courts of appeal identified two basic varieties of sexual harassment:
(1) Quid pro quo ("this for that") and (2) hostile environment

1986 - U.S. Supreme Court ruled sexual harassment on the job is illegal discrimination

even if the victim suffers no economic loss

1991 - Robinson vs. Jacksonville Shipyards - nude pinups in the workplace can constitute sexual
harassment

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