Yet, her life has been a series of career frustrations. Hatcher wanted to be a model but was told by a local agency that it already had three black models. A promotion she coveted at a former job was given to an older white woman. To Hatcher, it seemed she was being blamed for having a short tenure with a company that until recently had employed few blacks. She supports the initiative, preferring alternatives such as mentoring and self-help programs.
Some blacks speak of a quiet rage that grows as they watch the affirmative-action debate.
It is often distilled to simplistic terms of black and white, qualified or unqualified. Given the narrow choice of keeping affirmative action or leaving it, some say they have little option but to defend the plan every time. The affirmative-action debate is being argued disingenuously. I-200, Williams says, do not reflect the complexity of the issue nor do they highlight the disparities among races in education and employment. There is some common ground.