[ealgeone]

But then he got his Navy Standard Score, or NSS, used for placement in aviation training. He'd managed a 50.9 -- a hair over the score of 50 needed to qualify for fighters.

He'd internalized the message he'd received from other African-Americans when he entered training: You have to be twice as good to be average.

He wasn't even doing that!!

[Freee-dame]

It used to be that top scorers on entrance tests got into professions such as firefighter and pilot training. Then it went to “qualified.” This allowed for affirmative action to get people in who barely passed.