Employment Discrimination Based on RaceTitle VII of the Civil Rights Act and various other federal and state laws prohibit intentional discrimination based on ancestry or ethnicity. Some employers engage in overt discrimination against minorities by paying lower wages and other compensation to blacks and Hispanics. Others engage in quota systems by denying promotions and jobs to individuals on the basis of race or color. Federal laws prohibit employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating based on race or color. Virtually all states have even more stringent anti-discrimination laws aimed at combating employment-related racial and minority discrimination. In some states, companies with fewer than eight employees can be found guilty of discrimination. Both federal and state laws generally prohibit private employers, unions, and state and local government agencies from denying promotions, transfers, or assignments on the basis of race or race. color or penalize workers with reduced privileges, reduced job opportunities, and reduced compensation on the basis of race or color. Typically, the EEOC or related state agency will investigate allegations of racial discrimination or race-related retaliation. The EEOC has broad authority to protect company information and documents through subpoenas, field investigations, audits, and interviews of witnesses, both employee and outside. Statistical data may be presented to demonstrate a pattern or practice of discriminatory conduct. As in other forms of discrimination, the contents of the personnel file of an individual and others in similar situations are often examined. Data on workplace composition may reveal a pattern or practice of exclusion or canalization. At the regional or national level...at the heart of the document...we address issues related to a history of discrimination in this country that has excluded minorities and women from obtaining certain types of jobs. These programs attempt to address many years of discrimination by giving preference to minority groups in hiring, training and promotion decisions within a company. Although laws were passed prohibiting discrimination associated with race, religion, age, and gender, these alone were not enough to offset the many years of these exclusionary practices. Affirmative action programs, while controversial, work to provide access to areas of employment that had previously been denied to women and minorities. Bibliography Preskar, Georgiana. Diversity addiction: the cause and cure. 1st. USA: AuthorHouse, 1999. “Employment Discrimination: Overview.” Department of Labor. June 29th 2008 .