I think many of the ‘cons’ here rely on the assumption that a beneficiary of affirmative action is actively depriving a competent, qualified candidate of an opportunity. If that’s the scenario we’re going with, shouldn’t the competent, qualified candidate have a multitude of opportunities before them? If not, then isn’t the larger issue more likely a scarcity of positions or an exclusive industry? I’m not seeing much evidence that affirmative action has been successful enough to be labeled as a leading cause of skilled / deserving individuals losing out on major opportunities.