Was working at EEOC risky, in terms of job security, in the early days?
Working at EEOC was somewhat risky because most staff were hired as Schedule B civil service (as opposed to competitive civil service). It meant that the agency could hire people at higher grades if it needed to; it also meant that it could fire them much easier. On the other hand, most people who went to work for EEOC at the time approached it as if they were joining a crusade to eliminate employment discrimination. Commitment was a term that was blown around. Basically most people were saying, “I’m a true believer,” “I’m committed.” You were committed because you were a member of a depressed underclass—being committed was a buzz word. It had no official connotation other than, in my impression, it was political correctness: think this way and operate this way in order to show that you are committed to the cause of eliminating discrimination. It was the kiss of death if a staff person was not “committed.” “Commitment” also served to mask a raft of shortcomings for some persons who w
