Race and Color Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of l964 prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals - in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment - because of their race and/or their color. Equal employment opportunity cannot be denied because of marriage to or association with an individual of a different race, membership in or association with ethnic based organizations or groups, or attendance or participation in schools or places of worship generally associated with certain minority groups. This form of discrimination may be inadvertent or intentional, and it can be obvious or subtle; regardless, it is unacceptable at Appalachian and, in many cases, it is against the law.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on a student's race, color and national origin in schools and colleges receiving federal funds.

Definitions of Race and Color:

Title VII prohibits discrimination based on both race and color. Courts, however, do not always distinguish between them. Consequently, an investigator generally need not determine whether an adverse action was based on race or on color as long as the charging party alleges one or the other, or both. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines race discrimination as "discrimination on the basis of physical characteristics associated with a particular race." Color discrimination includes "discrimination on the basis of shade of skin color."

The North Carolina Office of State Personnel defines race as, " A local geographic or global human population distinguished as a more or less distinct group by genetically transmitted physical characteristics; any group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographical distribution; mankind as a whole."

Examples of race/color discrimination may include:

  • A white employee is not granted a career opportunity because she is married to an individual who is Native American or because she has a mixed-race child.
  • A supervisor refuses to make a work schedule change for an employee to accommodate his membership in or association with an race based organization or group, even when the schedule alteration would not impose an undue hardship on the work unit.
  • A staff member refuses to assist a student because of her skin color.
  • An employer permits employees to put down, demean, and ridicule an employee because of his/her physical characteristics that are sometimes stereotypically associated with a particular race.

It is also unlawful to retaliate against an individual for opposing employment practices that discriminate based on race/color or for filing a discrimination charge, testifying, or participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under Title VII or Title VI..

ASU Policies and Procedures Related to Race/Color Discrimination

Race/Color Discrimination Related Sites

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