Years ago when I was a jet instructor pilot in the USAF, we had a large contingent of African Americans enter flight training during the first period of “quotas” - don’t fool yourselves, quotas were very much there.
Approximately three quarters into the training year, a couple of the AAs approached me with a complaint...which was that they perceived a number of their classmates were obviously not qualified for this type of duty, but they were not failing, as we did to the Caucasians. They felt that this reflected badly on them, since poor performance when flying a supersonic machine is quite a bit more obvious than it is when one can be a politician.
I replied to them that they were indeed correct, but not to worry. We instructors knew the good ones of all flavors...and those good ones would be the ones that got the planes of their choice. And the two that approached me were indeed some of the good ones.
Conclusion: Ability is not a function of race, but quotas are a function of idiots.
“they perceived a number of their classmates were obviously not qualified for this type of duty, but they were not failing, as we did to the Caucasians. They felt that this reflected badly on them, since poor performance when flying a supersonic machine is quite a bit more obvious than it is when one can be a politician.”
I had a Marine tell me the same thing; black marines hated affirmative action because in their line of work people would die because of it.
Just damn...I thought that should have been put to rest by the Tuskegee Airmen.