I think you asked, “Whatever happened to simply hiring the most qualified?” I ask you in what American era did that actually occur? It certainly doesn’t happen around here. The difference between what’s happening now and what’s happened in the past is white males actually have to compete with minorities and white women for the same jobs.

I’m a Black Male as well and I have 3 degrees, 7 years of college and I’ve never received a single grant and I didn’t qualify for any. I worked to get great grades, used the GI Bill, received academic scholarships and owe thousands in student loans. I don’t know where you went to school but there’s a fantasy that blacks receive all the grants, if anything they only receive what’s left after 99% of everything else is gone. Most grants are need base, not based on grades or race so which ones are you talking about?

I’m not unemployed but I’m underemployed for the type of education I have and my competition is typically Caucasians with high school diplomas or someone who got their job because their cousin works in management somewhere. FYI: This is still happening and legal affirmative action in employment was ended in Florida, what 11 years ago now by Gov. Bush . . . . . so when is the unspoken affirmative action ever going to end?

What white people have to understand is that blacks are only 14% of the entire population about 1.6% of that are even in college, so whatever aid they receive is statistically insignificant. The opponents of Affirmative Action want you to believe that the 1.6% of blacks in college are taking away money from the 30% of whites in college. . . literally 99% of the white students would have to be poorer or academically superior to 100% of the black students and that’s simply not so and why that argument fails every time. The same reason that white girl in the affirmative action case fails, she didn’t get a spot because she wasn’t that bright, not because she was white.

The correct spelling is excel. Anyway, all of the African Americans that I am affiliated with, excelled in undergraduate and graduate school without any “special” help – working their way through college,etc.

I am African American, I have a Bachelor’s Degree and an MBA. i have applied to numerous banks in the area (a $9/hr job) in century – flomaton and brewton, and still not employed – yet the individual employed was white and in most cases, fresh out of high school – obviously not enough time to gain banking experience. I have relatives who live in this area, who are degreed in engineering, HR, etc., highly educated and within escambia county alabama, have applied to companies such as the pipeline companies, industrial distributors (both of which have no blacks working in their offices) etc. and guess who is hired – the non educated white man with less experience. We know because we always speak with HR and inquire on the person hired for EEO purposes. This is why affirmative action is needed. IF it is not in place, then the racist low class pricks will never give some blacks a chance. Granted, not all companies are like this, but in this area, they are racist. I know this to be true strictly from experience and until you walk a mile in a black man’s shoes in Flomaton, Brewton and Century, you will never understand. Take it like you want to take it. When I lived in other parts of the country, I did not experience this, only in these two horse towns down here.

What many whites don’t understand is that it discriminates against highly qualified blacks and whites alike . . . . . . I don’t really see why after 300 years of it being around, 47 years of Affirmative Action equals the playing field. A classic example is the case before the Supreme Court, the woman that said she couldn’t get into the Texas school was said to be a poor student that wouldn’t get into just about any school . . . not because she was white, but because she was dumb. She’s as smart as a rock and that’s what all the admissions directors in the case say but they’re using her case through the courts just on legal principle to get it to the Supreme Court. Ironic because the biggest beneficiary of Affirmative Action programs over the years has been white women who like minorities were locked out of equal employment for decades.

Its getting better but you can still look at almost every position in state, county and city government and find an employee that’s been there for 15+ years with no more than a high school education. That person was grandfathered in when the standards were raised so they get to keep their job but they’d never even get an interview if you place their resume up to the recent applicants for the same job . . . . unless their network helps them out anyway.