This myth posits that the individual beneficiaries of affirmative action who have obtained high profile positions cannot take pride in their individual accomplishments. Again, affirmative action does not mandate hiring anyone, most especially it does not require hiring or promoting unqualified individuals or admitting unqualified students. A final myth states that affirmative action is unnecessary. Both economic history and economic theory of capitalist economies have been very unkind to this perspective. First, there is no theory of discrimination based on a recognizably capitalist economy that sustains the notion that competitive forces are sufficient to eliminate discriminatory behavior.
Affirmative action is okay.
But, it is only a baby step in the long march required to achieve social justice. Slavery, Jim Crow, and continuing racism in the labor market, the credit market, the housing market, the educational process, and access to governmental resources have lead many thoughtful persons to conclude that a fundamental transformation of American society should not be a notion that is considered beyond the boundaries of enlightened public discussion. Yet, there is an unspoken and unyielding truth that limits public and private programs or actions to forcefully challenge the persistence of racism. That is to say, we have returned to a point in Florida and in American society that the presumptive privileges of whiteness are a binding constraint on social justice. The mere allegation that a particular racial justice policy or program might hurt any sub-group of whites has become sufficient grounds for claiming that the program or policy is inherently unfair.