[sugar and spice]

It's somewhere in there.

Essentially, I feel that American culture is set up to provide more educational opportunities to whites than to people of color. Affirmative action, when properly used, is one way of levelling the playing field. So yes, in a way I'm saying that some minorities DO need the extra help that affirmative action provides, though not necessarily through any fault of their own. It's summed up much better by many of the posts in that thread, though, which is why I directed you there.

Part of it is economic, as minorities are more likely to be "low-income" than whites. And since economic factors are influences by educational factors, which are influenced by economics, which is influenced by education . . . it's a self-perpetuating cycle which can be difficult to bust out of. In some cases AA helps to end the cycle.