I'm from a minority, and I'm currently enrolled in a phd program (well, about to enroll in september) in a top university. I've been working really, really, really hard to get there. Like, really hard. So it does piss me off when people just waive their hands and say: "pfff, must have been affirmative action or something".
That being said, I understand their reaction. When I put myself in a white male's shoes and I hear every day that we should remedy this and this instance of blatant discrimination, and the next day I hear that a company celebrates the fact that there are more women/blacks/whatever being hired, then it's true that the connection: they got hired BECAUSE they where women/black is a rather tempting conclusion.. and is sometimes true.
I think that some companies are at fault here, using anti-discrimination as a PR move. This can, and I think, does antagonize a lot of people, and is counter productive.
"Discretion is the better part of valour" springs to mind. If I hired some great women for development roles and my first thought was to write a blog post saying "look at these great women I hired", I'd be doing something wrong. It detracts from the fact that they're actually great developers, and if they weren't then I wouldn't have hired them.
That being said, I understand their reaction. When I put myself in a white male's shoes and I hear every day that we should remedy this and this instance of blatant discrimination, and the next day I hear that a company celebrates the fact that there are more women/blacks/whatever being hired, then it's true that the connection: they got hired BECAUSE they where women/black is a rather tempting conclusion.. and is sometimes true.
I think that some companies are at fault here, using anti-discrimination as a PR move. This can, and I think, does antagonize a lot of people, and is counter productive.