Affirmative action is under fire again. While some think that the strategy doesn't level the playing field in America, CNN columnist L.Z. Granderson writes that blacks actually don't like affirmative action, either, because it gives outsiders the opportunity to assume jobs were gained because of earmarks rather than talent.
This is at the heart of a little talked about secret regarding affirmative action: A lot of black professionals don't like it either. Not because they think the playing field is necessarily leveled, but rather their skills and talents are constantly being slighted by whites who think their jobs were given to them solely because of their race.
It's insulting, it's demeaning and there's not a damn thing we can do about it, because as long as race is part of the qualification metric, the perception that the bar was lowered so that we could jump over it will persist.
There are voters who think President Obama's success came easy because of affirmative action, overlooking the fact he's brilliant and oh, by the way, he and the first lady were still paying off their student loans 10 years ago. I can tell you from experience, there is nothing "easy" about paying back student loans.
Yes, there is an inherent hypocrisy of having such a policy in a post civil-rights world. But it is cynical to think we're a post-racial society just because we have a black president.
Read L.Z. Granderson's entire piece at CNN.
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