21 November 2007

Making the Most of Equal Opportunities

Jillian Todd Weiss hosts the first part of this week's Blawg Review at her Transgender Workplace Diversity blog and provides the background of Equal Opportunity Day, first proclaimed by President Eisenhower in 1957. That day was meant to promote, and much subsequent legislation and case law to effect, greater egalitarianism in the workplace.

In the president's words, we should "abolish all artificial discrimination which hinders the right of each American to advance in accordance with his merits as a human being and his capacity for productive work." That's certainly a noble sentiment and a worthy objective. Most days, however, I tend to wonder whether things have been legislated and litigated to the point where the workplace is less about ensuring the ability of a relative few to advance in accordance with their merits and capacity for productive work and more about protecting relatively many more from the repercussions of their lacks of merit and incapacity for productive work.

The second part of this week's double bill is hosted by Denise Brogan-Kator at her Rainbow Law Center blog and commemorates the Transgender Day of Rememberance. Both parts are well worth your time.

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