Which term refers to differential and pejorative actions that limit opportunities of particular groups?

• A. Discrimination
• B. Diversity
• C. Consumer racial profiling
• D. Disparate impact

Answer: (A)

Discrimination captures actions that treat people unfairly or limit their opportunities simply because of who they are or a characteristic they have. When policies, practices, or behaviors target or disadvantage a particular group in a way that curbs access to jobs, advancement, pay, housing, or education, that’s discrimination. It can be deliberate, like denying a qualified candidate a position due to race or gender, or it can be embedded in systems in ways that produce unequal outcomes.

Diversity, by contrast, refers to the presence of differences within a group or organization, not to the act of treating people unfairly. Consumer racial profiling describes a specific practice of making consumer decisions based on race, not the general phenomenon of limiting opportunities. Disparate impact is a legal concept describing how a neutral policy can disproportionately harm a protected group; it’s about outcomes of a policy, not the broader pattern of biased actions itself.

So the term that best fits differential and pejorative actions that limit opportunities for particular groups is discrimination.