EEOC at 50
Welcome to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's online commemoration of its 50th anniversary!
"Congress created the EEOC to give life to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We opened our doors on July 2, 1965, one year after President Johnson signed this transformative act into law," Commission Chair Jenny R. Yang reminded the audience at EEOC's July 2 commemoration event for staff.
Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. EEOC also has responsibility for enforcing the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Genetic Nondiscrimination Information Act. The agency protects equal employment opportunity for all.
While we officially mark EEOC's anniversary on July 2, a story this rich deserves more than one day of celebration. So EEOC will commemorate its mission, achievements, and continued efforts to build a stronger American workplace throughout its 50th year.
For example, later in July, we will post on this site an EEOC report "American Experiences versus American Expectations," that summarizes data on the composition of the American workforce by race, gender, and ethnicity-across various job categories-from 1966, when EEOC began collecting this data, to 2013, the most recent year for which this data is available.
In August, we'll launch on this site the first "Faces of EEOC," photographs that tell the stories of the people on behalf of whom EEOC has worked and the difference the agency has made in their lives. We'll add to this series all year long.
We hope you'll come back to this webpage again and again over the course of the year to view new research, photos, messages, and activities related to our anniversary, as well as updates on the agency's work.
If you find something that interests you or something that moves you, we hope you'll share it with your co-workers and friends.
The more people who know about EEOC, the more EEOC can do to ensure that equal employment opportunity is both a right and responsibility of workers and employers everywhere.
