Belial,

Here in the States, affirmative action uniformly (although not exclusively) means investing resources to hire, enroll or contract non-caucasians. It is a set of public policies and initiatives designed to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Much of the opposition to affirmative action is framed on the grounds of so-called "reverse discrimination and unwarranted preferences”.

What gripes many is the illogic of attempting to reverse racial discrimination by employing tools which discriminate by race. It is argued that this represents institutionalized, federally mandated racism. And indeed, over the last 10 years, the federal courts have pruned the more outré implementations of these policies. Currently, less than 10 percent of the 91,000 employment discrimination cases pending before the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission are reverse discrimination cases.

http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/enforcement.html

The legacy of slavery here in the States is sad, ugly, and messy.

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Eudaimonia