The Moral Foundations of Civil Rights

More than two decades after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the issues of racial discrimination and affirmative action are still matters of controversy. The fragile national consensus on civil rights policy has been increasingly fragmented by resistance and confusion in recent years, especially under the impact of the Reagan administration’s efforts to change its direction dramatically. Similarly, since the mid-1960s, the women’s rights movement has worked to end discrimination and bring about greater equality for women in employment and public life. Yet, recent years have witnessed increased national ambivalence about these goals and how they should be achieved, especially on the issue of comparable worth.