With the passing of the Ives-Quinn Bill in 1945, the state of New York was empowered to bring the full weight of the law down upon all employers who practiced any sort of discrimination in the workplace. The chosen instrument of justice was an agency called the New York Commission Against Discrimination which was chaired by the author of this article, Peter C. Turner. The chairman points out that the commission turned a lot of heads and made a tremendous amount of progress from it's earliest hours.
"New York's action in outlawing prejudice in employment was a bold and ticklish move. Nowhere in the nation, rarely in any other part of the world, is there a greater mixture of races, creeds, and colors than the melting pot of Manhattan and its adjacent boroughs. For years certain national groups and colors have been forced into individual financial, social and political cliques, with the result that many of their members have been unable to rise above the economic class into which they were born. The new law opens new horizons to all, regardless of their ancestors or beliefs and there is every indication that it will aid in destroying the barriers between one section of a city and another."
A similar article from 1941 can be read here...
- - and another article on this subject can be read here
- from Amazon:
