NASA'S POLICY ON RACE
By Finn
On the 7/8 trip to Alabama, a spot on the itinerary was the American Space Camp. There we learned all about everything from the first rocket to modern-day rockets. On the other hand though, from 1958 to 1975, NASA was not only behind on the international space race, but it was also behind in the national trend towards racial equality in the workplace. When NASA was founded in 1958, it was primarily established in the segregated Southern United States. Its lead engineers and scientists considered it an elite organization that was above social issues.
The organization was firmly set in institutional racism at the same time in which the rest of the country was investing in affirmative action. For instance, at NASA, the employment ratio of white males to minorities in 1972 was eighteen to one. The average for other Government Agencies was five to one, roughly five and three quarters better than NASA. Knowing something needed to be done to keep the media off their back, NASA created eight Equal Opportunity Employment Committees. It was later pointed out that six out of them were made up entirely of white employees. Furthermore, the committee members were part-time instead of full-time employees. NASA’s efforts towards racial integration in the workplace were clearly half-hearted.
Another example: the first ever colored female in a managerial position in NASA, Ruth Harris, was demoted before she had even arrived at her workplace. She was then fired two years after her employment at NASA, a case taken seriously by the NAACP, then eventually—reluctantly—taken seriously by NASA (Delaney, 1973). Despite NASA’s rocky history with racial integration, it received an award from the NAACP in early 2005 for inspiring the next generation of explorers: “NASA is teaming with the NAACP to show its commitment to diversity by making scientific, technological and engineering opportunities accessible to all,” wrote the organization on its website, “as well as inspiring underrepresented communities to prepare for a high-tech tomorrow” (NASA, 2003).
The organization was firmly set in institutional racism at the same time in which the rest of the country was investing in affirmative action. For instance, at NASA, the employment ratio of white males to minorities in 1972 was eighteen to one. The average for other Government Agencies was five to one, roughly five and three quarters better than NASA. Knowing something needed to be done to keep the media off their back, NASA created eight Equal Opportunity Employment Committees. It was later pointed out that six out of them were made up entirely of white employees. Furthermore, the committee members were part-time instead of full-time employees. NASA’s efforts towards racial integration in the workplace were clearly half-hearted.
Another example: the first ever colored female in a managerial position in NASA, Ruth Harris, was demoted before she had even arrived at her workplace. She was then fired two years after her employment at NASA, a case taken seriously by the NAACP, then eventually—reluctantly—taken seriously by NASA (Delaney, 1973). Despite NASA’s rocky history with racial integration, it received an award from the NAACP in early 2005 for inspiring the next generation of explorers: “NASA is teaming with the NAACP to show its commitment to diversity by making scientific, technological and engineering opportunities accessible to all,” wrote the organization on its website, “as well as inspiring underrepresented communities to prepare for a high-tech tomorrow” (NASA, 2003).