Two terms commonly used in American business but often misunderstood are equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. In general, “equal employment opportunity” means that individuals will be considered for jobs or employment actions without any regard to their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. These five demographic criteria are specifically named in Section 703 of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964, (see CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS) as amended. Considering one or more of the criteria in personnel activity is to engage in discrimination, which is prohibited by the act. The definition of covered employers, governments, labor unions, employment agencies, and training and apprenticeship sponsoring groups is so extensive that equal employment opportunity is considered a fundamental principal in employment law. Since equal employment opportunity prohibits the use of artificial criteria (race, color, religion, sex, or national origin) in personnel activities, the concept is considered to be facially neutral. Affirmative action, however, is not facially neutral. Affirmative action encourages giving special consideration because of an individual’s membership in a protected category, such as racial or sexual. Affirmative action is a voluntary program. It is above and beyond equal employment opportunity and intended to help correct injustices that occurred in the past. Through this concept when qualified applicants have similar qualifications for the same job opportunity, additional consideration is given to the minority and/or female applicant. The practice of affirmative action was promulgated with the issuance of Executive Order 11246 in 1965. Issued by President Lyndon Johnson, this Executive Order established regulations for companies doing business with the federal government. Covered federal contractors and primary subcontractors are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Covered companies which employ 50 or more people and have more than $50,000 in government contracts must have a written affirmative action program for minorities and females, with identified goals and timetables. The plans include a comparison of the internal utilization of minorities and females, by job group, compared with their external availability. When the external availability is greater than the internal utilization, underutilization exists and a goal to eliminate the utilization must be developed. Companies with government contracts of $10,000 or less are exempted from this executive order. The elimination of discrimination in America was the goal of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It is a very broad and far-reaching act. Section 7 specifically addresses employment. Other laws such as the 1968 Federal Fair Housing Act, as amended, assures equal housing opportunities regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, as well as handicap and familial status. This act prohibits the red-lining of geographic areas (an area where loans are not made) or failure to finance housing to people living in inner cities or low-income census tracts. John B. Abbott