However, I can say from experience that even when you do the right things, you tend to have to work harder just to prove you are worthy. Now that may be a misconception on my part. But it seems to me that I’m always fighting for equal pay and treatment among my colleagues, even when I have more education, experience, and expertise than my white male and female counterparts.

I can’t blame that all on the companies. However, I think Black candidates tend to shy away from negotiating higher salaries for fear of loosing the opportunity. It’s something we learn from our parents. We sell ourselves short because we were taught from an early age that America is not fair and we can expect to be paid less.

Back to this affirmative action deal. I think it was necessary when created, but does little to help today. Companies will find a way around it. My last company filled their quota by hiring Blacks into a lot of lower paying positions (ie. call center, admin). At one point, I was the only Black developer on a project that had about 500 people on it. At the higher levels (ie. IT, Finance, etc), they filled their quotas with Indian employees.

So if companies and schools can develop a way to make things better, I’m all for it. But keep in mind that people will be people. Everyone has their biases that they carry with them everywhere, even to work. However, I think that with each generation comes new clarity and sensitivity. And the internet has given us the ability to hold companies with unfair practices accountable. Just ask the leaders of any company that’s had a boycott that originated online. They will tell that fairness matters and the public will be the judges of what’s acceptable and what’s not.