This is often true, since the purpose of affirmative action is to broaden the pool of qualified candidates. The objection is often raised that a more qualified person was turned down. Thus behind affirmative action is an underlying assumption that any person hired through such efforts is not really qualified, and would not have made it through normal channels except for affirmative action. It is disingenuous in that the push for meritocracy only rises when those who have claimed a privileged status in American society now see it threatened. The means by which to defend this elitist position is by changing the rules.
Meritocracy is merely an ideology by which the elite seek to preserve their privileged status.
No one is questioning the fact that people should be qualified for a job or position. But don't change the rules in order to maintain privilege and power through a system that denied people not only access but also the qualifications by which to compete on an equal basis. First get rid of racism then come and talk about removing affirmative action and creating a color-blind society. The solution to the affirmative action debate or debacle is to base the program, not on group conditions but on individual need. Just because one is Black, female or of Mexican heritage does not automatically mean that one is at a disadvantage.