INSTITUTIONAL AND RACIAL BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT EQUITY FOR HISPANICS

In Los Angeles County, civil rights and equal employment in the local government workforce have been historically defined as a Black-White i ssue. This parochial definition has served to restrict and minimize Hi spanic public employment opportunities. One rationale used to account for and justify Hispanic underrepresentation, by both government offic ials and Black employee leadership, is a myth of a lack of an educated and qualified labor pool from which to meet equal employment goals fo r Hispanics. Hispanics constitute the only major ethnic/racial group t hat remains underrepresented in virtually all segments of this local g overnment workforce. Perpetuation of the myth of the lack of an educat ed and qualified Hispanic labor pool has relied heavily on references to the lower rates for Hispanic high school and college graduation com pared to rates for non-Hispanic minorities. The current research discl oses that from 1979 through 1992 the actual number of Hispanic high sc hool and college graduates in Los Angeles County and Hispanic college graduates in California was greater than that for Blacks, and in many cases exceeded that for all other minorities combined.