Barriers to Equality: The Power of Subtle Discrimination to Maintain Unequal Opportunity
Name
Rowe_JN_1990_Barriers-to-Equality.pdf
Description
Preprint of Article
Size
159.33 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
804f57675b3c46d7b7761750bdc70920
Author(s)
Rowe, Mary P.
Date Issued
June 1990
Publisher
Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal
Citation
Mary P. Rowe, “Barriers to Equality: The Power of Subtle Discrimination to Maintain Unequal Opportunity,” Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 3, No. 2 (June 1990): 153-163.
Abstract
This paper argues that subtle discrimination is now the principal scaffolding for segregation in the United States. The author suggests this scaffolding is built of "micro-inequities": apparently small events which are often ephemeral and hard to prove, events which are covert, often unintentional, frequently unrecognized by the perpetrator. Micro-inequities occur wherever people are perceived to be "different": Caucasians in a Japanese-owned company, African-Americans in a predominantly white firm, women in a traditionally male environment, Jews and Moslems in a traditionally Protestant environment. These mechanisms of prejudice against persons of difference are usually small in nature, but not trivial in effect. They are especially powerful taken together. (As one drop of water has little effect, though continuous drops may be destructive, one racist slight may be insignificant but many such slights cause serious damage.) Micro-inequities work both by excluding the person of difference and by making that person less self-confident and less productive. An employer may prevent such damage by developing programs on diversity, like "valuing differences" and team-building. The author does not believe micro-inequities should be made the subject of anti-discrimination legislation.
Description
Note: This article was also reprinted in Social Ethics: Morality and Social Policy, 4th ed., edited by Thomas A. Mappes and Jane S. Zambaty. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992.
Subjects
subtle discrimination; micro-inequities; harassment; occupational segregation; glass ceiling; inequality; racism; sexism
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