chakalate, somehow you still misunderstand my message. I do not discount your struggles and success, and I understand that there are many people who struggle and are successful just as you are. My message is not about that.

My point is that our firm does currently employ qualified minority workers. Several of our most productive workers are black. But we are NOW being forced by the government to reach their quota on an almost unattainable timeline. Not enough qualified minorities apply for employment here. So this means we now have to hire unqualified workers & pass over qualified workers simply to meet a government quota. Why is it so hard to understand that this is wrong?

"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." You know this quote right? Do you believe in the meaning? This is exactly why what the gov't is forcing us to do is wrong. Our company is being forced to hire people based on the color of their skin and not based on the content of their character, in other words, not based on whether or not they are qualified to work here.

For this company it is not about white or black, it's about who is best qualified for the job (regardless of race), it's about who will be able to help the company increase shareholder value (which is also our LEGAL obligation). But the government currently forces us to make it a white or black thing.

Maybe I can use your situation as an example. You are a top performing law student at one of the top law schools in the country. You are obviously one of the most qualified candidates for a job in your field. You obviously would contribute more towards the success of any firm than another student who has very low credentials (regardless of race). Now when the time comes for you to apply for a job, what if some government agency puts out word that there are not enough Latino or Asian lawyers represented in the industry and each law firm of a certain size will be required to have certain percentages of workers or face heavy fines? What if the law firm you want to work for hires a much less qualified latino or asian (who was a mediocre student at the least prestigious law school) over you, simply because your color and theirs are different? What if that same firm hired several applicants who were much less qualified than you but passed you over simply because you are black & they need to up their percentages of latinos or asians. How would that make you feel?