ACCOMPAGNEMENT PERSONALISE (APPROFONDISSEMENT)
EN TERMINALE ES
TACKLING DISCRIMINATION
Document 1
1) What is discrimination?
2) Give some examples of discrimination.
3) Is discrimination allowed in the EU? Why?
Document 2:
Vidéo : CorrélyceLe site.tvDiscrimination at work
Remarque: La transcription de la vidéo se trouve dans la fiche de travail proposée par le
Site.tv intitulée “discrimination at work”, à partir de laquelle cet exercice a été réalisé.
1) List the different people you have seen.
2) Who must they be? What are they likely to talk about?
3) Where does she come from and how old is she?
4) Why has she suffered from discrimination?
5) What is the worst problem for her?
6) What does she advise people to do?
7) Name the five types of discrimination the EU fights against.
8) Explain what each of them consists of in your own words. Use the prompt below.
___________ discrimination means that you are cast out because of your___________.
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9) Fill in the blanks.
A first ___________ for those ___________ from ___________ is Non-___________
Organisations, which can help for personal ___________: ___________ who feel they’re
being ___________ or ___________ can explain their problems and get ___________.
10) Vocabulary activity
Match the following words from the video with the proper definition.
discrimination – loneliness – ostracize – prejudice – shield – support – victimize
 being unhappy because you are not with other people: ___________
 help or encouragement: ___________
 avoid someone intentionally: ___________
 protect someone or something from something unpleasant: ___________
 treat someone unfairly on purpose: ___________
 when someone dislikes a group of people because they are different: ___________
 when someone is treated unfairly because of their sex, race, religion, etc.:
___________
11) Pairwork
A: You work at a human resources department for a company. Your boss wants to get rid of
five people over 52 years old. You don’t agree because you think they shouldn’t be fired on
account of their age. Develop your arguments.
B: You are the human resources manager. Your company has financial problems. Five people
have to be made redundant; you’re thinking of the older employees. Develop your arguments.
Source: Le Site.tv (SCEREN et FRANCE5), Discrimination at work.
Document 3: Tackling discrimination
The EU acts on behalf of EU citizens to prevent them being discriminated against on grounds
of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation and sex.
EU fight against discrimination
The European Commission takes action to:
 improve knowledge of discrimination by raising awareness among the population of
their rights and obligations and also of the benefits of diversity;
 support intermediary actors such as NGOs, social partners and equality bodies to
improve their capacity to combat discrimination;
 support the development of equality policies at national level and encourage the
exchange of good practices between EU countries;
 achieve real change in the area of anti-discrimination through anti-discrimination
training activities
 push for business-oriented diversity management as part of a strategic response to
a more diversified society, customer base, market structure and workforce.
In addition to the two Directives (Racial Equality Directive and Employment Framework
Directive), the European Commission adopted in July 2008 a Communication which presents
a comprehensive approach to stepping up action against discrimination and to promoting
equal opportunities and a Commission Decision creating a non-discrimination governmental
experts group.
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The European Commission supports equal treatment of the Roma, the EU largest ethnic
minority. See recent Roma policy developments.
Source: http://www.stop-discrimination.info/index.php?english
1) What kind of discriminations does the European Commission fight against?
2) How does the European Commission tackle discrimination?
Document 4: What is affirmative action?
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: any measure (…) that permits the consideration of race, national
origin, sex, or disability, along with other criteria, and which is adopted toprovide
opportunities to a class of qualified individuals who have either historically or actually been
denied those opportunities and/or to prevent the recurrence of discrimination in the future.
— U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Office of the General Counsel, Briefing Paper for the
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Legislative, Executive and Judicial Development of
Affirmative Action, Washington, D.C., Mar. 1995.
Affirmative action policies are those in which an institution or organization actively engages
in efforts to improve opportunities for historically excluded groups in American society.
Affirmative action policies often focus on employment and education. In institutions of higher
education, affirmative action refers to admission policies that provide equal access to
education for those groups that have been historically excluded or underrepresented, such as
women and minorities.
Background on Affirmative Action
Affirmative action is an outcome of the 1960's Civil Rights Movement, intended to provide
equal opportunities for members of minority groups and women in education and
employment. In 1961, President Kennedy was the first to use the term "affirmative action" in
an Executive Order that directed government contractors to take "affirmative action to ensure
that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without
regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." The Executive Order also established the
President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, now known as the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Affirmative action policies initially focused on improving
opportunities for African Americans in employment and
education. The Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of
Education decision in 1954 outlawing school segregation
and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 improved life prospects for
African Americans. In 1965, however, only five percent of
undergraduate students, one percent of law students, and two
percent of medical students in the country were African
American. President Lyndon Johnson, an advocate for affirmative action, signed an Executive
Order in 1965 that required government contractors to use affirmative action policies in their
hiring to increase the number of minority employees.
In the following years, colleges and universities began adopting similar recruitment policies,
and over time the enrollment rates for African American and Latino students increased
steadily.
Source: d’après l’article « Affirmative action: Overview »
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-overview.aspx
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1) What is affirmative action ?
2) What is the historical background that led to affirmative action?
3) Why is affirmative action still a kind of discrimination?
Document 5: The Affirmative Action Debate
Supporters of affirmative action make the following arguments:
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Affirmative action programs have resulted in doubling or tripling the number of minority
applications to colleges or universities, and have made colleges and universities more
representative of their surrounding community.
Graduates who benefited from affirmative action programs say that they have received
better jobs, earned more money, and ultimately are living better lives because of the
opportunity they received.
We exist in a global, multicultural society, and in order to achieve success, employers and
employees must be able to work effectively with the diverse society that surrounds them.
Affirmative action policies are necessary in order to compensate for centuries of racial,
social, and economic oppression.
Certain racial or ethnic groups are disadvantaged because they are frequently in lower
income brackets and consequently are not exposed to the same resources as students from
higher socioeconomic classes. Advocates support the notion of competition between
students based on merit, but argue that affirmative action compensates for economic
disparities.
Critics of affirmative action make the following arguments:
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Minority groups may be stigmatized and treated differently by peers and professors who
may believe that the success of minority groups in higher education institutions is
unearned.
 Affirmative action may be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin by recipients of federal
financial assistance).
 Affirmative action only serves to amplify racial prejudice. Moreover, affirmative action
programs are condescending to the underrepresented groups since it is implied that the
groups need affirmative action in order to succeed in higher education.
Source: d’après l’article « Affirmative action : Overview »
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/affirmative-action-overview.aspx
Question :
The use of race as a factor in the college admissions process has been, and continues to be, a
hotly debated topic. Complete this table to compare the advantages and disadvantages of
affirmative action.
Advantages
Disadvantages
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