Hi. Reminded of this question by another post. I recall a professor who was high up in a federal US agency once mentioning the following happening in his division, but I may have misunderstood. Is it possible that an office would be required under AA to apply AA “benefits” in hiring/promoting to males or white males, based on the diversity of that department/office/whathaveyou?
I have seen several instances of AA applying where traditional “minority” groups make up the actual majority and recruitment of “majority” groups is encouraged. I have also seen situations where this is too successful and the government interferes with (rather than encourages) such goals.
E.g., a Nursing program that recruited men to apply. Eventually, the government thought the proportion of male students was “out of line” with national averages and started firing off letters. Nevermind that the actual number of men involved was still quite tiny.
Lots of stuff like that.
From the US Department of Labor website, a good place to get the straight dope on this topic, including the full text of Executive Order 11246, which established affirmative action for women and minorities.
"For federal contractors and subcontractors, affirmative action must be taken by covered employers to recruit and advance qualified minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and covered veterans. "
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/hiring/affirmativeact.htm
This act does not require affirmative action towards men/ majorities, but it does require that they receive equal opportunities in employment.
The Department of Labor’s Employment Standards Administration’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) enforces the Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended and the affirmative action provisions (Section 4212) of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, as amended. Taken together, these laws ban discrimination and require Federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to ensure that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as a Vietnam era or special disabled veteran.
Well I have anecdotal evidence that some traditionally black schools actively attempt to attract white students for diversity sake.
At the University level, the goal of AA is supposedly to increase cultural/ethic diversity as a means to exposing students to a more diverse set of opinions, so theoretically the non-white supporters of AA would seek to attract white people into institutions traditionally dominated by their ethnicity.