Letters to the Editor
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Xema Gold
No. I'm trying to say that you seemed to have an incorrect definition of the term "affirmative action."
Have unqualified white men been hired and promoted due to the good ol' boy system? Of course, lots and lots. I've worked for a few. Have unqualified black men and women, as well as white women, been hired and promoted due to affirmative action? Yes, I believe that they have. Theoretically, the correct percentage of applicants for every job will always be equally qualified minorities, but the actual pool of applicants doesn't always work out that way. If that implies a subtext that's offensive to you, then I'm sorry.
Black men or women who are passed over for the boss's asshole idiot nephew or the manager's fraternity brother are rightly resentful. White men who are passed over for a less qualified black applicant are, unfortunately, also likely to feel the same resentment than the loftier emotion of "I am willing to suffer for the wrongs of previous generations...or even for the wrongs still going on at that privately owned business down the street." This is exacerbated by systems that purport to define qualification solely as a score on a test.
It's human nature to see one's personal loss or gain instead of the big picture, and it's part of American capitalist culture to value individual good above the good of the community. Our laws and public policy may reflect our collective striving towards a better self (or at least they may if we ever get this particular fat-assed administration out of office) but our behavior still tends to reflect our grubby, imperfect, actual selves.
As the young woman's riff on racism clearly showed. After all, it's a "reality" show.