See also ‘Discrimination’ - Positive discrimination may be defined as the provision of more favourable treatment towards a minority group that falls within one of the nine grounds of discrimination, over a majority group. A popularised term for positive discrimination is ‘affirmative action’. The practice of positive discrimination was very popular in the United States after the Civil Rights Movement whereby employers were providing more preferential treatment to black employees/job applicants over white employees/job applicants. The practice is generally deemed to be unlawful as it effectively amounts to discrimination against the majority group. However, the practice is permitted in certain countries/jurisdictions where it is deemed that such a practice is for the common good.
