If they are not getting a large number of any particular type of applicant, I don’t think it’s a problem to ask for more of them, so long as there isn’t punishment if they don’t get them.
This law/agreement(consent decree) in Arkansas does not speak to whether they are getting a particular type of candidate or not though. It makes it a general law to specifically say blacks and women are ‘SOUGHT’ in every city job opening ad....whether they are getting tons of blacks and women applicants applying already or not. That is not equal protection or opportunity....that is favoritism and special treatment. You cannot possibly be an equal opportunity employer if you are specifically saying that you are ‘seeking’ one race or gender for a job.
If, as others have said, that the goal of the government is to have the ‘demographics’ of the applicants match the demographics of the area that the job is in and nothing more...then how can it be mandated to only say blacks and women to begin with?
That fails reason. That would mean that a company in a mostly white area of a city would have to hire more whites or have more white applicants than any other race. Assume for a minute that that is the case. The company is in a mostly white area of a city, with a higher percentage of males, but mostly blacks and women are filling out applications for the job. Would it then be ok to have an ad that read..whites and men are ‘sought’ for the job?