Final answer:
Refusing to hire or promote a minority person for non-qualification reasons is discrimination, while affirmative action actively compensates for past discrimination.
Step-by-step explanation:
Refusing to hire or promote a person in a minority group for reasons other than their qualifications is referred to as discrimination. Discrimination involves actions based on the belief that members of a certain group are inferior solely due to factors such as race, gender, or religion. This is vastly different from affirmative action, which are active efforts by governments or businesses to give special rights to minorities in hiring, promotion, or access to education to make up for past discrimination. One such enforcement agency for these policies is the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which ensures redress for organizations that have been found guilty of discrimination.