Ad Agencies Being Coerced Into Recruiting Minorities
Is this really necessary?
NEW YORK - Why, city officials demanded, were there virtually no black staffers at New York’s elite advertising agencies? The year was 1968. Agencies’ executives vowed to fix the problem. They didn’t. Now, under steady pressure from advocates and the threat of public embarrassment by city officials, they’ve renewed those promises.
Sixteen of the city’s top ad agencies have agreed to recruit more minorities, especially blacks. They’ll also diversify senior management and let city officials monitor them for three years.
As Advertising Week 2006 festivities begin, the agreements signed with the city’s Human Rights Commission offer a rare glimpse inside one of New York’s core industries — and reveal that its work force doesn’t look much like the nation.
“This is a big deal — that advertising agencies actually signed written agreements to make these changes,” said Burtch Drake, president of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. “Will you see an overnight sea change? No. But over time you’ll see other cultures integrated into advertising.”
Seems to me that all this pressure is going to do is force these agencies to factor in race when making hiring decisions. Meaning that if it choosing between two candidates for a job opening comes down between a minority person and a non-minority person (read: white male) the minority person is going to get the nod because of his/her skin color and a desire by the employer to adhere to politically correct standards for diversity in the work place. Which, to me, is every bit as disgusting as not hiring a minority because of his/her skin color. Or gender or religion or whatever.
I mean that. Hiring a person because of their skin color is every bit as reprehensible as refusing to hire a person because of their skin color.
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