2. CRITICAL PROBLEMS IN ACHIEVING EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY.

This article focuses on some of the problems in achieving equal employment opportunity in the United States. Because of many years of discrimination and rejection, many minority individuals are very poorly prepared educationally and even psychologically to accept their new role. In 1961, the then President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which ruled that government contracts could be cancelled if a company were found to discriminate in its employment practices. Soon after the issuance of the order, a number of employees at the Lockheed Martin Corp. plant in Marietta, Georgia, filed complaints claiming discrimination. An Atlanta attorney, a member of the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, was assigned to discuss the situation with Lockheed officials. The company's Plan for Progress stated that minority applicants would be actively recruited through contacts with community organizations, schools, state employment offices, private recruiting agencies, and minority newspapers. The qualifications of all present employees were reviewed to see if any were underemployed.