The presumption that whites see race as a zero-sum game is ludicrous. The proper analysis is that people bending over backwards to provide preference to blacks has naturally resulted in pushing some deserving whites to one side.
My father was denied a promotion so that a politically correct black woman could be chosen. He had previously handled much larger offices, but they couldn’t even keep her on the job for long.
The reality is that making decisions based on racial preferences IS a zero sum game. Making hiring decisions based on merit is the only fair system.
The reality is that affirmative action creates a less-than-zero-sum game. In zero sum, if a black wins, that means a white guy loses. In the affirmative-action game, a demand to hire less qualified blacks over more qualified whites creates an incentive to move work overseas and bypass the game entirely. That means that BOTH blacks and whites lose.
“My father was denied a promotion so that a politically correct black woman could be chosen.”
This situation is nasty, and getting worse. It has become so prevalent that it is difficult to discern which “preferred” people are genuine and which are tokens. As the economic lot of whites worsens (along with every else), this nonsense of turning down whites for jobs, school admissions, and promotions should come under greater scrutiny & fire. If it doesn’t, then whites may logically assume that the government has declared war on them.
Know your Dad’s situation all too well.