Mello
(2011) points out -in his book Strategic human resource management- that discrimination itself means to make a distinction and it only becomes illegal when it is directed against some classes or groups protected by the law.
The EEOC is the agency charged with the enforcement of federal laws against discrimination in the workplace. It reports that each year there are approximately 80,000 complaints of discrimination.
Federal laws prohibit different types of
discrimination based on age, disability, salaries, genetic information (never
imagined this one exists), national origin, pregnancy, race / color, religion,
retaliation, sex, sexual harassment and there are many others that are not covered by the
law. Those ones are not considered as unlawful discrimination.
It seems like humans have a high creativity to find ways to humiliate
others.
In my opinion, the only reason why illegal discrimination persists nearly 50
years after the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is resumed in one
phrase: Feeling of superiority (or inferiority). Humans are ruthless when we
are in positions of advantage over others. The only antidote that cures to
suffer the evil of superiority or inferiority is the education in values. We should educate values to our children, and even educate ourselves on values such as respect, justice, love, mercy, etc. Who said adults can not learn values?
Emilsis Féliz
Mello, J. A, (2011). Strategic human resource management
(third ed.). Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
