A copy of this report in PDF format is available. The radical right is trying to put an end to such policies and unless we speak out and organize strong political opposition, those doors of opportunity are about to be slammed shut. Affirmative action goals and timetables are targets for equality, parity and a level playing field. Like goals for profits or productivity, they mark and measure progress, but do not carry legal penalties.
Quotas are illegal unless court-ordered to rectify discrimination.
The only Supreme Court case dealing with affirmative action for women recognized that supposedly merit-based evaluations may reflect biases. The justices upheld an affirmative action plan that promoted a woman over a man with slightly higher score. NOW helped organize Freedom Summer and Freedom Fall 1996, grassroots campaigns that opposed the California ballot measure 209 designed to wipe out affirmative action. NOW lobbying and pickets in the late 1960s forced newspapers to stop sex-segregated employment ads and got the EEOC to start enforcing employment discrimination laws for women. After their win in California, the radical right is poised to press for more of these dangerous new measures that promote discrimination in disguise.