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Of course it isn't fair, and I happen to believe it's degrading, as well. Basically: "You can't make it without Whitey giving you a hand."
It's patronizing bullshit and I think it creates more problems than it solves. Affirmative action certainly started out with noble goals, but...
My girlfriend was telling me about an NPR radio show she was listening to a week or two ago. The show is hosted by a black man who has a degree in (something or other, I forget). Anyway, the topic of the show was related to affirmative action and my girlfriend was telling me how the guy got several calls from black people basically calling him an Uncle Tom and telling him he couldn't have gotten anywhere without affirmative action. That sounds like pretty self-destructive thinking, to me.
The problem is that hiring and admissions policies that are based on race are no better in one direction than in the other. It's not right when it's done to group "A" and it isn't any more right if you turn around and do it to group "B" in order to make up for doing it to group "A".
Of course, it isn't realistic to expect people to _actually_ get hired only on qualifications. People's internal prejudices will always come through, but I don't think handicapping someone for not being in a minority group will help anything.
SpaceAce
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