Smashing the Glass Ceiling

While presidential politics captured most of the national attention two weeks ago, the public voted on major policy issues as well. In California, Proposition 209 became a reality. Now, any affirmative action based on race, gender or ethnicity in the state is illegal, whether in the public sector, education or employment. It seems California residents acted a little prematurely; this country still has racial barriers to overcome. Last Friday, a mere two weeks after Prop. 209 passed, Texaco Inc. agreed to pay $140 million, the largest settlement ever in a racial discrimination case, on behalf of all its minority employees.

Only a few of the employees actually raised the suit, complaining of a glass ceiling within the company. However, the settlement addressed all of the minority employees in the company, giving them all 10 percent pay raises. Texaco has also instituted a task force which will focus on minority hiring and promoting practices.

Why the uproar now, when the suit had been pending for more than two years? Well, a few weeks ago, the government and the public discovered that one senior executive had tape-recorded a meeting. On the tape, the senior executives of Texaco made racially disparaging comments and admitted that they promoted only white employees into the highest ranks. They also discussed shredding documents containing the secret evaluations based on race which were demanded in the case, a point the Justice Department will deal with later.

The racial discrimination at Texaco demonstrates the need for affirmative action and minorities at the top levels of organizations. To assume that qualified minorities cannot be found is ridiculous, especially when racial and ethnic minorities constitute a large proportion of the U.S. population. The diversity of backgrounds and interests that minorities bring to an organization outweigh any disadvantage of affirmative action. Besides, affirmative action is not a quota system, and so there are no rules that minorities must comprise a certain proportion. Instead, affirmative action ensures that minorities actually reach the top and are able to make decisions for organizations. Although I wish that affirmative action was not needed, the Texaco Inc. settlement illustrates that organizations need minorities in the upper ranks. This idea is not only rational but also in the best interests of the country, since racial and ethnic minorities constitute a rising proportion of the U.S. population.

The glass ceiling may not be all that amazing, but the racially disparaging comments made by senior executives at the company and incidentally captured on tape come as a surprise. Affirmative action would ensure diversity--ethnic, gender and racial--in the upper ranks of organizations. Prejudice stems largely from ignorance, which we are often accustomed to think of as intellectual ignorance. But ignorance also means unfamiliarity. Since these executives had deliberately kept minorities out of the top ranks, they were not used to working with them on equal status. Texaco did have an official affirmative action policy; had it actually ensured that minorities were at the top as well, Texaco could not have instituted a glass ceiling. They would not have had to work so hard now to remedy the situation.

Employees at Texaco Inc. had noticed the glass ceiling for some time. But the idea only became accepted when tapes revealed that senior executives used race as a factor in determining promotions. In most cases, the existence of glass ceilings are very difficult to prove, and minority employees who brush up against the glass ceiling are not so lucky to have their fears confirmed by a tape.

Minorities may never reach the upper ranks of some organizations because of the ignorance and prejudice of high-ranking decision-makers. If minorities cannot reach the top, they can never significantly impact the company to change policy. Affirmative action breaks this vicious cycle to ensure that minorities can influence policy.

Affirmative action's long-term benefits to any organization far outweigh any momentary inconvenience in implementation. If minorities are present at all levels of an organization, it is true that affirmative action is not needed, but also the rules of affirmative action no longer apply. Only when organizations are already unfair to minorities is affirmative action truly a burden. Although affirmative action may not be needed in some areas of the nation, to eliminate it entirely is premature. It assumes that no barriers due to race or gender exist. We all would love to eliminate affirmative action. But some of us are prepared to wait until it is no longer needed.

Tanya Dutta's column appears on alternate Mondays.