None of this mattered. There is little doubt that McDonald would have been admitted under a race-neutral system that placed an emphasis on academic achievement. Patricia Ribeiro worked for the Head Start program from 1962 to 1971. Five years ago, she applied for a teaching position in the Head Start program of the Long Beach Unified School District. I don't care how qualified you are, I am not going to hire you.
Preferences do benefit some women in public contracting.
By statute, California must seek to award 5 percent of the nominal value of all state contracts to women. But no good data exists on how many women are actually in a position to benefit from these preferences. And proponents of preferences never explain how women would suffer under a gender-neutral system that awards contracts to the lowest bidder. Finally, women know that their most significant advances in the workplace have not resulted from gender preferences. A modern political mantra has it that white women have been the greatest beneficiaries of goal-based affirmative action.