om Affirmative action has been modest at best, and has not been enough to counterbalance the effects of their buffeting from market forces. (Bergmann, p.38) In todays market, more and more small businesses are being owned and managed by women. The Wall Street Journal reported in 1996 that approximately 5.9 million women-owned businesses were operating in the United States. (Nickels, McHugh, Mchugh P27). Because of this trend, corporate America needs to recruit women and other minorities into previously withheld positions in management if they choose to remain competitive. The owners of these female-run businesses may find it easier to sell to and more desirable to buy from businesses where women and other minorities are included at management levels. Resistance to diversity, particularly by white males, poses a major problem. Resentment may be a result of narrow definitions of diversity that has failed to also include white males as well as a perception by some that diversity means preferential treatment for women and other groups. White male anger may also stem from the fear of losing jobs over a minority as a result of downsizing. Jesse Jackson, a prominent civil rights leader, released a statement in 1995. In his statement he said, Those who have been locked out need the law to protect them from the tyranny of the majority. We must look at the remaining gap in wages between men and women, whites and people of color. We must determine its necessity by data, not by anecdotes. It is a myth that white males are being hurt and discriminated against because of Affirmative Action programs. White males are 33% of the population, but ? 80% of Tenured Professors ? 80% of the U.S. House of Representatives ? 90% of the U.S. Senate ? 92% of the Forbes 400 ? 97% of School Sup...
