Abstract
Using detailed employment discrimination charge data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), this chapter provides unique information on the number of charges of color discrimination, the bases of the charges, the characteristics of individuals filing charges, and characteristics of the workplace. Claims of employment discrimination on the basis of color have been rising, from 1,424 in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 3,063 in FY 2009. Although many color discrimination claims are combined with race discrimination charges, 16% of color charges do not also include race as a basis. Color discrimination charges are filed by individuals of all races. Among color charges that do not include race as a basis, 15% are reported by Whites and 17% are reported by Asians. Color claims disproportionately include national origin and religion as additional bases.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
An interesting side note is that in forecasting population trends the Census no longer assumes that the race of a child follows the race of the mother (US Census Bureau 2008).
- 3.
Although Walker lost this case on the merits, this case is widely cited as support for the legal validity of within-race colorism claims.
- 4.
The category “race basis – other” is now obsolete but was still in use in the period analyzed here.
- 5.
The data extract covers the period October 1, 1999–February 28, 2010. Any changes to the charge data after this time period will not be reflected in my statistical analysis.
- 6.
There are 18,429 individual charges including color discrimination in this period, but 118 records are duplicates in every way except that the race of the charging party is recorded differently in different records (e.g., Black and Asian). I count these claims only once and assign an indicator for more than one race reported.
- 7.
As noted earlier, I assign an indicator for more than one race for charges that are duplicates except for different races reported. The share of individuals recorded as more than one race is doubtlessly below the actual number of individuals who would report more than one race had that option been available. For comparison, 3% of the US population reported more than one race in the 2010 Census (US Census Bureau 2011). Also worth noting is that although the EEOC records allow for reporting of national origin including Hispanic, Hispanic ethnicity is not recorded in the charge records. National origin is frequently missing, so there is no reliable way to identify if color discrimination is related to Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.
- 8.
The calculations reported here are based on data for 2010 Q1, not seasonally adjusted.
- 9.
The calculations reported here are based on data for June 2010.
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Hersch, J. (2013). Characteristics of Color Discrimination Charges Filed with the EEOC. In: Hall, R. (eds) The Melanin Millennium. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4608-4_15
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