It can be difficult for younger generations to understand the idea of ​​discrimination and the turmoil our country once faced in its efforts to end intolerant treatment of our fellow Americans. This is due in part to the tremendous progress our country has made since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 took effect nearly 50 years ago. Our current president is of African-American origin. We not only have women serving on the United States Supreme Court, but we also have minority justices. Yet, despite the progress our country has made, discrimination still exists not only in our daily lives, but also in the job market. Anti-discrimination legislation has been part of our country's history for 145 years. In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in hopes of ending inequality. This law gave all Americans “equal benefits of all laws, regardless of race” (Bohlander, 2010). Decades later, Congress went to work again to further protect Americans from discrimination by passing the Unemployment Relief Act in 1933. Under the Act, it "prohibited employment discrimination based on race, color or creed” (Bohlander, 2010). In 1941, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802 to ensure equal employment opportunity in World War II defense contracts (Bohlander, 2010). Even with these three laws, discrimination remained widespread. Ordinary Americans continued their bigotry; Employers continued their racist employment practices because nondiscrimination laws often gave no enforcement authority to the enforcement agency. Second, the laws passed often failed to enumerate specific discriminatory practices or methods to correct them. Third, employers were covering... middle of paper... and not delivering” (Idaho, 2007).ReferencesAbout Us - Idaho Human Rights Commission. (nd). Human Rights - Idaho Human Rights Commission - The State of Idaho. Accessed November 20, 2011, from http://humanrights.idaho.gov/about_us/about_us.htmlBohlander, GW and Snell, S. (2010). Human Resource Management (15th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Laws enforced by the EEOC. (nd). U.S. EEOC Homepage. Accessed November 20, 2011, from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/index.cfmStatutes. (nd). Idaho Legislature. Retrieved November 20, 2011, from http://legislature.idaho.gov/idstat/Title67/T67CH59SECT67-5907.htmThe Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (nd). National Archives and Archives Administration. Accessed November 20, 2011 from http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/