Wards Cove Packing Co. V.

Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio

The issue of racial discrimination in hiring practices, especially in the United States, I s a very contentious one.

This is so as a result of the tumultuous history related to racial relations in the workplace, even as far distant as the abolishment of slavery. Of course the case of Wards Cove vs. Antonio is no different. I do not believe that any case can be simplified to its most basic components, especially as concerns laws of racial discrimination. This is an extremely arbitrary issue. As such, I believe that issues of racial hiring practices should be resolved by the parties directly involved in each case, rather than the court. The parties in each case should also be able to resolve the issue in a rational, logical manner rather than resorting to such extremes as the letter of the law.

As such, then, I do not believe that the company's hiring practices have been discriminatory. Indeed, hiring practices in either department should be entirely free of racial consideration. Indeed, in any profession, the ratio of white as opposed to nonwhite workers in any department whatsoever should not matter. I do not believe that that hiring practices in the company under consideration are discriminatory. The reason for this is the fact that there does not appear to be any criteria apart from skill in the hiring practices of the company.

Concomitantly, it is a sad fact of the current economic and educational world that skilled work and unskilled work is unevenly divided among whites and non-whites. Much more is at issue here than merely race. Indeed, the legacy of one's parents, the economic circumstances of one's primary education, and social background all work together to determine the nature of one's initial workplace. Furthermore, the determination and ambition of every particular worker in the current economy tends to determine the particular nature of the work a person is required to perform.

It appears that Wards Cove Packing understands this phenomenon. It would certainly be foolish, according to any business paradigm, to appoint a person to a certain position based solely on his or her skin color or race. This is far removed from any legitimate criterion for employment. Hence, if a white person is more qualified for a position than a black person, it is the consensus that a white person should be appointed for a job. If there is a lack of black representation for a certain job skill, certainly this is a fault of the education system rather than the employment market. I do not believe that a truly indiscriminate workplace could also be truly representative of all population groups in all its departments. Indeed, if this were to be the case, racial quotas, as mentioned in the case study, would become a necessity.

Furthermore, I do believe that the hiring practices for cannery and noncannery workers should be separate, as they are widely separate types of jobs. Cannery work is, as stated, unskilled. Hence, there would be a larger amount of applicants for the job, and it is easier to be apparently indiscriminate regarding the hiring of white or nonwhite workers. It therefore follows logically that there would be better representation of the various races in the nation than in the skilled positions, where there is a more selective amount of applications.