[Ads-l] Antedating of "Affirmative Action" (Race-Related Legal Term) But Without Citation

[Shapiro, Fred]

Here's a nice antedating, although without an OED-calibre citation, of the race-related legal term "affirmative action."  The OED's earliest citation for the race-related term is to John F. Kennedy's March 6, 1961 executive order.  According to Wikipedia and other sources, the race-related term was coined by the Black lawyer Hobart T. Taylor   Wikipedia states the following:

In February 1961, Taylor was invited to the White House by Vice President Johnson review an early draft of Executive Order 10925<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_10925> created by Abe Fortas<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Fortas> and Secretary of Labor Arthur Goldberg<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Goldberg>. Aided by George Bunn<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bunn_(diplomat)>, Taylor coined the term "affirmative action<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_action>" in the final version to emphasize that employers must actively combat discrimination, rather than passively addressing claims of workplace discrimination as they arise.[3]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Taylor_Jr.?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-tsha-3>[6]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Taylor_Jr.?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-FOOTNOTERichardsonLuker2014436%E2%80%93437-6>[9]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Taylor_Jr.?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-FOOTNOTEReed2011114%E2%80%93116-10> The term was added to address the perceived inefficacy of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower> earlier Executive Orders on civil rights.[7]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Taylor_Jr.?utm_source=chatgpt.com#cite_note-:0-7>

Wikipedia footnotes this: "Stewart, John F. (1 November 1967).  'Taylor, Hobart: Oral History Interview.' John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum."

Although there is no citation to a printed usage unless a copy of the final executive order draft exists somewhere, I hope that OED and the Oxford Dictionary of African American English can each separate out an entry for race-related "affirmative action" with a note explaining the Hobart Taylor coinage.

Fred Shapiro


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