[Nathans_Dad]

Ok, I accept that there are "old boy" issues in our nation and likely will be for some time. It is unfortunate, but it also has been ingrained in our culture for thousands of years and will probably take hundreds of years to get rid of.

Now for the next question. Japanese people aside (since there isn't any affirmative action for Japanese people that I know of, I am considering their situation moot to this conversation), why should we use a government policy to offset something which is not a government problem? In other words, affirmative action is a requirement of everyone in the US which appears to be in response to the continued actions of a few in the US. Meanwhile, innocent bystanders are getting pulled into the fray because they get denied access to the education of their choice. The instances are rare, but do occur.

To me, affirmative action is a wrongheaded attempt at "making things right". It is a noble idea, but one which fails miserably in its implementation. A policy which was supposed to improve equality simply lowers the bar for some and perpetuates the stereotype that minority students can't cut it when put head to head against white students. It also fosters resentment and division from those students who see it as an unfair crutch given to someone solely based on skin color.

Again, I would challenge anyone of minority descent who is under the age of 40 to tell me a single way in which their lives were adversely affected by the policies of the US government due to their race. I don't think it occurs and in fact I think the exact opposite occurs. I can show you multiple 20-something white people who were denied education at a school of their choice by a policy mandated by the US government based on their skin color.