Affirmative Action Is Great For White Women. So Why Do They Hate It?

But even if young white women are aware of how affirmative action could likely benefit them -- and how likely it is that they, in fact, have already benefitted from it -- it’s possible these millennials view efforts to remedy the effects of racism as unnecessary, just as they view efforts to remedy the effects of sexism.  

Rhodes and his co-author at Al Jazeera, Sean McElwee, write that the data suggest young white Americans, “rather than seeing racism as a persistent problem still in need of remedy... are inclined to believe America is a colorblind society and that little remains to be done to remedy past racial injustices.”

Similarly, the success of affirmative action for white women might have contributed to their sense that they, and people like them, no longer need formalized programs to ensure that they’re fairly considered for admission and employment. Sure, affirmative action helps fix sex discrimination, but that’s not really a Thing anymore, right?