Race The student's observations about race in discussion 1 prompted me to think about the way our society uses affirmative action to deal with racial inequalities in the workplace. The student states early in the discussion that he had never been personally affected by race or racism -- and yet, after some reflection, he realizes that he had been. He tells the story of going for an interview at Target and being asked if he was Mexican because his name was Hernandez. He informed the interviewer that he was not Mexican and the interviewer immediately lost interest in him as a person. It seems the interviewer was only interested in hiring a particular race -- a Latino -- most likely to fill some sort of affirmative action quota.

This recollection by the student made me irritated because I began to consider how hypocritical our own society is about race. On the one hand we try to act like race shouldn't make a difference,...

Why should Target be more interested in hiring a Mexican because he is a Mexican? If a person speaks Spanish, this is a qualification. If a person's race is Latino, how is this a qualification? Our attitudes towards race are at best contradictory. I believe we should stop pretending like we don't notice race. Race is a big deal here (even if it isn't in other countries). And I don't see political strategies like affirmative action doing anything to solve the way we look at race. I see it as just one…